Daria: College Pains The Sophomore Year
by James the Lesser
Summary: The Sequel to Daria: College Pains, follows her in her Sophomore year at Raft. Quinn at her school. And of course the others, old and new.
1. Chapter 1

**Daria: College Pains The Sophomore Year**

**Episode 1: Summer Lull**

**Lindy sits at the Morgendorrfer **home with Little Jake on her lap. "Your momma is going to be home soon. I hope with good news."

It was the second week of June and Helen had called earlier to let Lindy know she was bringing home important news on the lawsuit. She hadn't said if it was good or bad so Lindy had to sit and wait to find out.

Helen pulls in to the driveway and gets out of her vehicle with her suitcase.

Lindy meets her at the door with LJ. "So?"

"Calm down Lindy." Helen walks over to the kitchen and sets her suitcase down on the table. "I want to see LJ before I talk about work."

Lindy hands LJ to Helen and Helen snuggles with LJ cooing at him.

Lindy didn't know Helen that well. If Daria saw Helen doing this she would have been stunned. To Lindy it looked like any other mother would be with a baby.

Lindy waits a few minutes before asking again. "So?"

"Good news." Helen doesn't set LJ down as she walks out to the living room to sit down on the couch. "The record company doesn't want a lawsuit risking bad publicity or losing rights to the song since they've already printed out god knows how many CD's with it being the featured song. They're willing to settle."

"For how much?" Lindy's eyes would be dollar signs if it was a cartoon.

"I worked out a deal. The band will get fifty grand, plus full studio time to record one album, plus distribution through the record company and all promotional items covered. They will also offer an extension on any future albums depending on how the first one does." Helen smiles as she plays with LJ's toes. "And I of course made sure the law firm got a good cut out of the deal."

"Yes!" Lindy's shout upsets LJ and he starts to cry. "Oh, uh, sorry."

"Don't be. When you're a mother you learn to love it." Helen gets up from the couch and walks back to the kitchen. "When was he last fed?"

"Around five."

"So he should be ready for another bottle." Helen goes to the refrigerator and starts preparing a bottle.

"Um, Mrs. Morgendorffer, is it ok if I go and tell Trent the good news?"

"Of course Lindy. You two have fun." Lindy is all but a blur as she leaves the house for her car.

Lindy and Trent had been having problems lately. His song for Daria and attention he got at shows from other women made her feel insecure. All the help she had given him and the band made them bigger than they ever could be alone. She got them gigs out of state, on television, at other big concerts. She worked her ass off making them some thing more than a garage band. The downside of that was of course Trent got more attention and she was not dealing with it well.

She pulls in to Casa Lane's driveway and sees Daria's SUV. "She must be hanging out with Jane. She better be hanging out with Jane."

She gets to the door and goes in hearing Trent and Daria talking in the kitchen. She storms to the kitchen yelling before she even gets there. "What do you think you're doing?"

Daria is a little stunned by Lindy yelling. "Waiting for Jane and Andrea."

"Aren't you supposed to be leaving?"

"Tomorrow." Daria isn't sure why Lindy is being hostile. "The band is coming over tonight too. I'm supposed to stay and listen to some new song they're working on."

"Oh gah, that song?" Lindy turns to Trent. "Just couldn't wait could you?"

"If she's leaving tomorrow now would be the time to play it." Trent, and Daria, were both being their calm monotone selves which just made Lindy even angrier.

Jane and Andrea are coming down the stairs after hearing shouts. "What's going on down here?"

Daria answers first. "I'm not sure. Lindy is mad about some thing but I don't know what it is."

"Aaaa!" Lindy turns to Daria. "Leave Trent alone!" She then storms out of the room and up to Trent's room slamming the door behind her with out telling Trent about the news from Helen.

Daria blinks a couple times. "What just happened?" She looks over at Trent who shrugs his shoulders.

**Jodie sits in her car nervous as **she waits to see if Mack pulled up. She wasn't getting out of her car unless she knew he would come.

Mack sits in his car nervous with what he was about to do. He loved Jodie but being single had been a whole new life for him. He never thought it could be like how it was.

He gets out of his car and walks over to a tree. It was behind the middle school they had attended together.

Jodie sees him and get out of her car. "Mack."

"Jodie."

She walks over to him and stands under the tree with him. "You came."

"Of course I did." He leans down and kisses her. "But I'm not proposing." She feels her heart stop. "We're too young to be getting married. Why not worry about that after school?"

"You're breaking up with me?"

He shakes his head. "Of course not. I'm just saying lets leave the rings off. You'll be closer next semester so I'll be able to see you more."

Jodie smiles and gets up on her tip toes to kiss him again. "I love you."

"I love you too." The two continue to kiss under the tree.

**That night, down in the basement of **Casa Lane, Daria, Jane, and Andrea are treated to a new Mystic Spiral song. "I want a girl with a mind like magic, I want a girl who knows what's best, I want a girl with boots that kick ass, and eyes that show the rest. I want a girl who's quick and sharp as a tack. A girl who isn't afraid to snark back. A girl who goes around picking up the slack."

Daria realizes this girl Trent was describing was sounding familiar... "I want a girl with a short skirt and a long, green, jacket."

Daria immediately blushes.

The song continues and when the band finishes, Jane applauds. "Thanks Trent! That was perfect!"

"You're welcome Janey."

Jane turns to Daria. "What did you think?"

Daria looks between the two. "Uh, thanks?"

"It's for your birthday. I didn't know what to get you so I asked Trent to write a song. I helped a little with the lyrics but the band did the rest."

Daria glares. "You wrote the song?"

"Part of it. Trent and the others did most of it. I wanted it to be about you so I gave them words that described you. I didn't think they'd be so literal with the outfit."

Andrea laughs a little. "Daria thinks either you or your brother wrote her a _I want you _song."

Jane laughs a lot. "I didn't tell Trent how to use the words I just gave him the words."

Daria looks at Trent who was talking with the other members of the band oblivious to her stare or blush. "I think I know why Lindy was so mad now. You realize it probably sounds like a, uh, song for me from Trent."

Jane rolls her eyes. "I'm sure my brother told her I asked him to write you a song."

Across town, at the Zon, Lindy is downing beer after beer. "She's just a kid." She downs a beer and slams the empty bottle on the counter.

The bar tender comes over. "Hey Lindy, how about a coffee?"

"Why? You calling me drunk?"

"No, I just think you need a break from the beer." He hands her a coffee. "What's wrong?"

"Trent wrote a freaking love song for another girl."

"Daria?" Lindy almost throws the cup of coffee at the bartender. "Whoa, calm down. It wasn't a love song. At least, not from Trent. His little sister asked him to write a song for Daria for her birthday."

Lindy sets the coffee down after hearing this. "He tried to tell me." She pounds a fist on the counter. "I have to stop being so damn jealous." It was one of the traits she had gotten from her mother. A trait she hated. "I need a taxi."

"Finish your coffee while I call one. Trent's?" Lindy nods. "I'll let you know when they get here."

Back at Casa Lane, Daria is getting in to her SUV with Jane behind her.

Before Daria closes her door, Jane steps in the way. "Daria, before you go, just know I swear I didn't know he was using the words I gave him to make a love song. I was not writing you a love song. If I wanted to get under your skirt I'd be more upfront about it." Jane smirks as she sees Daria's reaction.

Daria didn't blush or glare. She just smiled a little. "Thanks. That way I can use my boots to kick your ass faster."

Jane's smirk turns in to a smile. "How come the least little mention of a guy digging you your face turns red but any thing about me or another girl and you just ignore it."

"Because I don't like girls. I don't think about that."

"So, do you think about Trent?" Daria blushes a little. No where near as bad as she used to and there was no threat of the rash. "I'll take that as a yes."

"No. Not any more."

"So? Conner? Or the other guy, what was his name?"

"Russel." Daria smiles a little. "I am worried about work and paying for my share of the house but I am thinking more about stuff outside of that."

The two continue to talk when a taxi pulls up. Lindy stumbles out of it and throws a twenty at the driver.

Jane goes over to Lindy and catches her before she falls on the driveway.

Daria is a little nervous but decides to help as well.

She leaves her SUV and gets on the other side of Lindy to help Jane get her to the house.

Inside, Jane and Daria dump her on the couch. Daria wants to leave but Lindy grabs her arm. "You," Daria doesn't respond. "Sorry. I yelled at you. I shouldn't have," Lindy turns and pukes on the carpet barely missing Daria's boots.

Jane leaves to grab some rags. "Jealous, too damn jealous. I hate my mom." Lindy leans back on the couch and lets Daria's arm go. "I hope you liked Jane's song. She must really like you. I heard Andrea bitch about it before. She's cool too."

Daria is feeling uncomfortable now. "Uh, yes, yes she is."

Lindy leans forward and grabs Daria's arm again. "Just stay away from Trent. I like him, a lot. He listens to me. He's not an asshole. He's better than I am. I'm not used to that. I get why you like him but he's mine." Lindy mumbles a few other things that Daria can barely make out.

"No problem. I'll be going to Boston tomorrow. I won't be back until the holidays."

"You're a cool kid." Lindy laughs as Jane comes back in.

Jane had been worried leaving Daria with Lindy. To hear Lindy laugh was a little more worrisome. "Did she puke again?"

"No, but I need to get going." Daria is able to free her arm. As she walks to the door she stops and turns back to Jane. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes you will. Maybe you'll be wearing your short skirt and long green jacket."

Daria doesn't reply as she leaves Casa Lane.

**Lindsey is on the phone **with Skaz. "I know, I miss you too. How's Portland?"

"The same as always. Never too warm or cold. Not big enough to be like Boston but not small enough to be considered a village."

"It sounds awesome from what you've told me. I'd love to see it one day."

After a few seconds of silence, Skaz replies. "Thanksgiving? I know you didn't go home for it last year. If you don't again then maybe you could come with me?"

"I'd love too but I don't want to like, be a burden or any thing, on your family."

"Trust me, you won't. I'll ask to make sure it is ok but I'm sure it will be."

"That would be great. You're the best babe."

"I try to be."

**Daria wakes up the next morning **and goes down stairs to see her sister at the kitchen table. "Why are you up so early?"

"I wanted to talk."

Daria sits at the table. "About?"

"College. I'm still so nervous. What if I can't make new friends? What if no one likes me?"

Daria ignores the newspaper she'd normally be reading. "You attract people like a moth to the front porch light."

Quinn crosses her hands on the table fidgeting with a bracelet. "I know but I don't want to attract the same people I attracted here. I want a boyfriend who likes me not my clothes or my boobs."

"You've finally realized your boobs aren't your best feature?"

Quinn rolls her eyes. "My hair is my best feature."

"Guys don't notice hair."

"Some guys do. I'm sure the guys you date would notice. You have really good hair. If you used a little product and had it done you'd be almost as cute as me."

"Why would I want to be as cute as you? I don't want guys to like me because of my looks."

"Gah Daria, learn to take a compliment. Looking good is for yourself not boys."

"I don't think plucking my eyebrows is for me."

"I don't pluck my eyebrows! Even if I did, don't you shave your armpits and legs? It's the same thing just eyebrows."

Daria starts to get annoyed. "How did this become about me? I'm already in college and doing well. You're the one freaking out about it."

Quinn bites her lower lip. "I know. I want to get a job but I don't want it to interfere with school. I like working at Axl's. Do you think I could get a job like that in Miami?"

"I'm sure there are plenty of tattoo and piercing places in Miami." Daria sees the look on Quinn's face. "You're scared of moving out."

"Weren't you?"

"A little nervous but not scared. I was ready to move and wanted to get to Boston. I missed home but I was glad I was in Boston."

Quinn continues to play with her bracelet. "I've lived with mom and dad my whole life. I've always had them. When I went over on the credit card or needed a new outfit for a date they were there."

Daria thinks of the checks her parents sent her. "Mom and dad will help. Just not as much."

Quinn leans over the table and rests her head on her arms. "Why can't I be like Stacy? She doesn't even need her helmet on to be kick ass."

Daria doesn't get what Quinn means exactly but continues to try and help her sister. "You'll do better than you think. You realize college is different from high school. You won't step on campus clueless like others will. You're smart or they wouldn't have taken you."

Quinn looks up from her arms. "They care more about if I'm able to pay for it than my brains."

"Colleges aren't guys. They do care if you're smart. Some do any ways. Miami is one of them."

Helen comes down the stairs with LJ and goes to the counter to grab a bottle. "Hello girls. What time do you work today, Quinn?"

Quinn perked up immediately. "I don't. I'm going to Stacy's later. She has an interview tonight and wants me to help with her makeup and hair."

Helen rocks LJ as the milk warms for the bottle. "When do you leave today, Daria?"

"Later. Probably around eight after rush hour is long over."

"Isn't leaving at night what caused you to break your glasses last time?"

Daria sighs heavily. "Yes. It won't happen this time. I wear my contacts when I drive."

"You should wear them more! You hide behind your glasses Daria."

Daria glares at Quinn. "I don't hide behind them. They're just there to keep unwanted people out. The ones who matter make it through."

Quinn gives Daria a sly smile. "Like Conner?"

Daria is a little surprised. "How did you hear about him?"

"Jane. I was hanging out with Lindy. Jane saw me and we started talking about your little coffee and study dates with Conner."

"It wasn't a date. Nothing happened." Daria smirks. "Yet."

Daria had spent the week at home debating. She liked Conner and Russel both. Both were smart, charming, made her laugh as much as any one could, and she admitted their looks interested her as well.

Conner helped her with choosing a new course for her. He had tried to ask her out but she shot him down the first time because she was dating Luke. He tried again after the break up but she rejected him again. When he needed help studying, he turned to her, showing he recognized her for her brain and not in a negative way. He still flirted with her even after what happened before.

Russel was interesting to talk with. He liked video games like she did and was even going to school for it. He was more muscular than she normally liked but she wasn't shallow enough to let that turn her off from the idea of dating him. Most women would see that as a plus. She was just neutral to it. His darker skin was different and was some thing she never thought she'd find it as attractive as she did.

She thought about how easy it would be to date Conner. Same school, same job, lots of time together. She hadn't wanted that before with Tom but with Luke... She made sure to find time to spend with him. If she went to the same school as some one it would be easier to find time.

But she didn't want just ease of dating to be a reason for dating some one. In fact, that Russel had to struggle to find free time and when he did he spent it with her made her like him more.

All that debating left her with a headache and a choice. She was nervous about losing some one she liked if they didn't want to remain friends. If that happened, well, then she'd lose him.

Quinn's moment of break down having passed, she gets up from the table and goes up to her room to get ready for Stacy's.

**Jodie and Mack are **snuggling together on his bed. "When do your parents get back?"

He snuggles a little closer to her. "Don't worry. They don't care. They know we're adults."

She turns over so she can face him. "I do." The two start to kiss when they hear a car pull in to the driveway. "No round three today." Jodie gets out of bed and starts grabbing her clothes.

Mack watches her get dressed before getting his own clothes.

Mack and Jodie meet his parents downstairs. "Hello Jodie, how are you doing?"

"Well Mrs. Mackenzie. What were you doing today?"

"Mack's father and I were busy down at the store. They had some new deals on tools and he just couldn't stay away." She nudges her husband in the side with her elbow.

He laughs. "I need to start stocking up for my own business. Right Michael?"

"With an NFL contract you won't need to budget shop for your tool store on wheels." He sees three bags on the kitchen counter. "Have any more bags?" His mother nods. "I'll help."

"Thank you dear. I knew having a big strong boy would come in handy one day." He goes out to the car with his father to get the rest of the groceries.

Jodie is alone with his mother. "So Jodie, it is good to see you, but I don't see a ring."

Jodie subconsciously puts her hand behind her back. "No. We decided that we're too young to be engaged. We're in college and should be worried about school or football not wedding dresses and flower arrangements."

Mrs. Mackenzie smiles. "Good. You two make a great couple. I was a little sore that you said no when he proposed but I can see your reasoning. Just don't make me a grandmother yet."

Jodie's eyes go wide. "I, uh, we're,"

"Not doing that? I see how your hair is."

Jodie tries to fix her hair with her hands. "No, I meant, we're safe."

Mrs. Mackenzie laughs. "Good. You two are adults and can make your own choices and I'm glad you're making the right ones."

"Thanks." Jodie feels the uncomfortable air of embarrassment evaporate when Mack and his father come back in with bags of groceries.

**Stacy is in a room with a couple **officials from NARCA. "I thought I was doing an interview." She was a little nervous.

One of the officials, an older white gentleman with thin white hair smiles. "You will after this little meeting. Don't worry, you're not in trouble. We're here to talk with you, that's all."

It doesn't calm Stacy's nerves. "Shouldn't my daddy be here?"

The other official, a younger man with thick brown hair, shakes his head. "You're fine Stacy. We're here to let you know that we support you."

"Support me?"

The older official nods. "Just because you are a girl doesn't mean you can't be a driver. If other owners and drivers have a problem with that then they have a problem."

The younger official continues. "We also want to give you some ground rules." He clears his throat as he picks up a piece of paper. "You have been involved in a couple of fights."

"They hit me first!"

"Yes, they did. Keep that up. Let them hit or push you first. After that you can go to town on them in self defense. Never strike first. If they are yelling and screaming and in your face but don't touch you make sure you don't hit them."

The older official opens up a briefcase and pulls out a pile of letters. "Also, please ignore any idiots in the stands. You have a lot of fans." He pushes the pile of letters over to Stacy.

She picks the top one up and reads it. "I get fan mail?"

The younger official continues. "You have a lot of fans who support you. We also support you. We still want you to do an interview with our media consultant if you have the time."

"I do! This is why I came in today."

All three stand up and they shake her hand.

After Stacy leaves for her interview the two officials sit back down at the table.

The younger official picks up the pile of fan mail. "King Racing is grooming her for next year. We have a dozen or so races left to exploit her marketability."

"The older man clears his throat and coughs. "We can't be rigging races."

The younger official pushes away from the table. "Dad, our ratings are up, our sales are up, we haven't been this popular in decades. Women love her. We're hitting an untapped resource in the sports community. Football, baseball, basketball, none of them have this chance. You'll never see a female pitcher for the Yanks or a female quarterback for the Ravens. We are the only major sport where a woman can compete with the men and win. We're not the WNBA or softball, we have national exposure. If she wins a couple more races or god forbid the championship? We'll sell every thing."

"Calm down. We need to start looking for more female racers. If we had a couple more it would draw more attention. See if you can't find a black one."

"African American. Dad, ok, so don't rig the races just, fudge a caution here or there when she needs one. Maybe be a little more lenient when it comes to handing out punishments like we already did."

"Why do you think the girl isn't in trouble? She about put that boy in the hospital. Any one else would have been facing at least a one race suspension. I know she's good for business but I'm not rigging any thing. This isn't wrasslin or boxing."

"I'd kill for their ratings and money. If we were ASCRA we might not need it but NARCA bled more money than a stuck pig the past three years. This is the first time we've seen a profit since nineteen ninety seven." The older man grumbles some thing. "Ok, we can look for other female drivers. I'll have scouts go to local tracks and see if we can't find one who can race but would also look good in Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issue."

"Now that's an idea! When does that come out any ways?"

The two continue to talk not realizing they had another ear listening in.

Quinn had been kept outside and was curious about what was going on. She never thought she'd hear about NARCA contemplating rigging races for Stacy. She was glad the one official was against it and hoped they didn't. Stacy was good enough she didn't need races to be rigged.

**Daria and Jane pull **in to Boston early in the morning.

The two stop at a diner for breakfast. "Our last day in the dorms." Jane pokes at her eggs. "I'll like having my own room but I'll miss Paige."

"I'll miss Lindsey. Some times."

Jane laughs lightly. "You wanted to kill her that first month."

"I've wanted to kill Quinn too but I never did." Daria picks up a piece of toast and picks it apart with her fingers. "How long have you been thinking about living together?" Jane shrugs her shoulders. "I've been expecting it since you told me you got in to Raft."

"I guess I did too. I thought about an art commune but after the one a couple summers ago I can't go back."

"Why not? You might have more fun this time now that you're, well, I wouldn't say out just not, in."

Jane leans back in the bench like seat she was sitting on. "I don't like girls, or guys. I like a certain personality. If some one has it then I like them." She looks Daria in the contact wearing eyes. "Even if they wear a short skirt and long green jacket." Daria doesn't respond as she stabs a sausage link with her fork. "I still can't believe they went so literal."

Now Daria responds. "Shakespeare they aren't."

"Shakespeare never got a record deal."

Daria was still surprised by the news. She never thought of Mystic Spiral as more than a garage band that would play around Lawndale. Seeing them perform in Boston and hearing of their other performances still didn't seem real. "Lindy is good for them."

"She's great for them. My brother never would have gotten off his ass and done any thing about his song being stolen."

"Now they'll," Daria stops as she hears a very familiar voice. No, two voices.

Voices she heard in nightmares. Maybe she had fallen asleep at the wheel and crashed. That would be preferable to what she thought was happening.

Two booths away two men with large heads sit. "Yeah, D.C. Was cool. Giant Clinton penis statue was awesome."

"Heh heh, I think that was there before Clinton, Butthead."

"Then whose penis is it, Beavis?"

"Uh, the one dude, the guy with the white wig."

"Oh yeah, him."

Jane notices Daria sink in her seat. "What are you doing?"

"Shh."

"Daria, what are you doing?"

"Don't say my name too loud."

The man closest to her booth turns his head. "Hey, Beavis, I think I just heard diarrhea."

"Cha cha cha!"

Daria hears this and lowers even more in to her seat. "Jane, kill me, please."

"Daria, what?"

Jane looks up and sees two guys walking over. Neither one appealed to her. They looked dirty, their shirts unwashed, and when they see Daria she gets a vibe she really doesn't like off of them.

"Hey, diarrhea!"

"I thought she died."

"No Beavis, she moved. Like, years ago."

"She got hot! Heh heh."

Daria grabs the seat with her hands and squeezes tightly trying to stay calm. "Beavis, Butthead, long time no see. For a reason."

"Whoa, where did your glasses go?" Beavis leans in a little too close and Daria backs away.

"I use contacts, some times."

Jane sees how uncomfortable Daria is. "Who are you?" Jane had never seen them before and Daria had never mentioned them before.

"Heh heh, you're hot too."

Butthead punches Beavis in the arm. "I call dibs on diarrhea."

A waitress sees the situation and walks over. "Are these two bothering you ladies?"

"Yes." Highland was flooding back to Daria. How much she hated it and these two specifically.

The waitress turns to Beavis and Butthead. "Would you two please go back to your booth? I'd hate to have to call the cops."

"Heh heh, they never got our television back." The two walk off leaving all three ladies confused by Beavis's last statement.

Daria and Jane talk about the two boys as they wait for them to leave before going out to their cars. "I'd say they couldn't have been that bad but I dealt with them for less than five minutes. I can't imagine spending years with them." Jane was glad she had met them though. It made Daria open up about Highland and her time before Lawndale.

Daria shakes her head as she leans on her vehicle. "I liked them, at a distance. Insulting them was about as close as I could come to as actual conversation."

"Did they realize you were insulting them?" Daria shakes her head. "Ever think we're the mean ones?"

Daria gives her a confused looke. "What?"

"Remember at the mart of darkness when Andrea ran away? Afraid we'd make fun of her? We made fun of Kevin and Brittany, a lot. And the Fashion Club. And others. Just because some of them didn't understand we were insulting them doesn't mean it was ok."

"If, they, if they didn't give us a reason..."

Jane cuts her off. "Like weight? Or having glasses? Or being the loner artist who was better with a paintbrush than another person? At least when Kevin or Brittany insulted us they didn't know they were. Hell, they thought they were complimenting us half the time."

Daria glares at Jane. "You can choose to be stupid. Look at my sister. She acted like a vapid idiot before deciding she wanted to have a brain."

"She acted like one. I don't think Kevin was acting. Too many blows to the head." Daria starts to bite back when Jane cuts her off again. "I get why you did it but, in Lawndale, what if you had started there? With out those two, things, turning you off from humans in general?"

"I already was. You're starting to sound like my mom."

Jane smirks. "So? She's a hot show lawyer with a pretty good family. She may not always be there but at least she tries. You got to see her even if you didn't want to."

"Are you comparing my family to yours?"

Jane moves her right hand behind her and scratches the back of her neck. "Maybe. I got to see Trent who I love but I might have liked seeing some one else. Telling them about school. See if any one else cares."

"It sounds like you're homesick for a home that doesn't exist."

"Maybe." Jane lowers her arm. "Going to college didn't feel real. A Lane going to college? If I get an apartment, or a house, in Boston then I've really moved on. It makes me look back on school and wonder what I could have done differently. Maybe make friends with Andrea earlier. Or focus on my grades or running more. Not let an asshole or a bitch of a coach turn me off from it."

"Hind sight is 20/20." Daria ignored the past as best she could. Few things from it were good and what was good from the past she had in the present. "Would have helped pay for college if you got a track scholarship."

Jane yawns. "I wouldn't be going to BFAC then. No track team. I wouldn't be getting an apartment with my best friend."

"I'm nervous too. I was ready to move to Boston. I wanted to live where I wanted to for once not where my parents took me." Daria yawns again. "I don't think there is enough coffee in the world to keep my going."

Jane yawns. "We have to. Get to our dorms, pack up, and get to the house before noon."

"All on no sleep."

Jane turns towards her car. "See you there." She yawns again. "I hope the floor is comfy. I don't think I'll have the time or energy to set up my cot."

Jane and Daria would get real beds, later. For now they would be sleeping on cots as would Mary and Amalia. Once they moved in. Later, after the Sun had come up.

**A/N Summer! So I guess technically not Sophomore year. But they are both taking summer classes. Jane so she can catch up and Daria so she can cover the new courses she'll need for a degree in journalism. Got to see more of Lindy, Stacy, Quinn, Mack, and Jodie as well. So much happened. The record company that stole the song settled out of court. How well will a fully produced Mystic Spiral CD be received? What songs will be on it? We get to hear the special song for Daria which is a variation of Short Skirt/Long Jacket by Cake. Heard the song on iHeart Radio and just knew it must be used. It fit Daria too well not to be. And a special appearance by Beavis and Butthead! Just a quick cameo, a one shot deal, with mention to their trip to D.C. It also gave Jane some insight in to Daria and some reflections and emotion from both about moving in together and their time in Lawndale.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Daria: College Pains The Sophomore Year**

**Episode 2: Summer End**

**Quinn is in the house in Lawndale **alone. Her parents had moved with LJ to the house in Odenton. They left her some money for food and expected her to look after the house while a Realtor showed the house to potential buyers.

Of course her first thought was to throw a party. Who would she invite? Who would come? Did she really want a bunch of people from high school? She knew they didn't really like her, not really, most of them.

She'd invite Stacy for sure, but who else? Tiffany, maybe. Lindy? Would she come to a high school party? Well, Quinn wasn't in high school any more. "It will be a going to college party. I can have a few people but nothing major." She smiles to herself as she starts making a list of who she would invite.

**At a NARCA race, after the **race had finished, three executives in suits meet up with the son of the owner. "Two cautions for ghost debris?"

He looks at the lead executive. "And?"

"Brilliant." The lead executive pats the son on the arm. "After that blown tire I thought she was done for."

"So did I but she's a great racer who only needed a little help getting back on the lead lap."

The four walk in to the VIP room of the track they were at. The son sits at a table. "We need her to do well but we also need to find replacements."

The executive to the left of the lead executive smiles. "We've had scouts out at various tracks and have gotten a dozen girls we think might be ready."

The son raises an eyebrow. "A dozen?"

"We'll continue watching and seeing who would be best. Those who we like we'll continue watching and prepare them for next year."

"Make sure they can fill out a bikini as well as a race suit. We need advertising and sex still sells."

The three executives nod their heads and leave the room.

Stacy is with her father and boyfriend in the garage. "I can't believe I finished fourth. After my tire blew I thought our day was over."

Her boyfriend puts an arm around her waist and pulls her close. "You may not always catch the checkered flag babe but you never come in last."

"I always come first..." Stacy hears a throat clear. "In video games."

Her father steps between the two putting a hand on the boyfriend's shoulder. "Just because I let you work for me doesn't mean I won't break you if you knock up my daughter."

"Sir, I, we, it isn't, I mean,"

Stacy's tell makes both men flinch. "Dad!" Stacy grabs her helmet. "We're safer than my car." She blushes a little. "And I'm eighteen."

"And eighteen is too young to be having kids." He messes up her hair. "I can't tell you what to do though just give you good advice." He turns to the boyfriend. "I want you looking the car over as soon as we get it back to the garage."

"It's a fourteen hour drive."

"So?"

"I, I drive the one truck."

"So you'll be extra motivated to get the car looked over as fast as possible."

Stacy follows her dad to his truck and looks back at her boyfriend with an apologetic look on her face.

**Daria is in her new room with a very familiar bed. **Her parents had it sent to her as they didn't need it at the new house in Odenton. "One expense I saved myself." She looks at the posters on the walls.

They were the ones she had in Lawndale. It almost made it feel like home. She even had the plywood with padding attached to it.

When she left her room it made the illusion of being at home evaporate. Across the hall was Jane's room and she could hear the sound of a drill going. "I don't want to know what she is working on."

She goes down the hall and sees Amalia and Mary are both out. It was Friday night and she had nothing to do. She looks at a small mirror next to the door. "Is this the same Daria that had to be dragged out of the house with threats or bribes?"

She knew she had grown over the year. Meeting people who went to school because they wanted to go had allowed her to see a new world. A world where people were smart and liked it. People who wouldn't see her reading and deride her. People who would know what the word deride meant.

If she could write an email or call herself before she left Lawndale for Boston her freshman year, what would she tell herself? Would she warn her about Luke and Peabody? "No. He, he was, is a good guy. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for him. It hurt, but life hurts some times, and he gave me that idea for the book."

The book had been somewhat finished. She originally just did it like a documentary but realized that was boring. She changed it to be more like a modern detective using modern techniques and technology to hunt down the killer fleeing across the world. She kept all the facts and details from an earlier draft but now it would draw in some readers who wouldn't care about a bland who dunnit book.

She needed help knocking out some of it. She used the internet to look for answers about actual police investigations but she could only gain so much from that. She knew a detective who already knew about the case and book but that would mean calling Luke.

She flops down on a small second hand couch in the living room and turns on the television. "Educator by day, Dancer by night! Find out what the Board of Education doesn't want you to learn! Hot for teacher next, on Sick Sad World!"

"Repeat." She lies on the couch staring at the ceiling.

What would she tell herself? Beer is ok, in moderation? Pot was ok too, in moderation. That Helen would listen to her and not yell about doing beer and pot? Classes would be different and harder than high school but not impossible? So much happened over the last year it all seemed too much. How did she do all of that? How did she meet so many good people? Her and Lindsey had been at each others throats at first but became friends. Making friends with Mary almost seemed too simple. If it was that easy wouldn't she have had more friends? Except Mary went to school to learn not because she was forced making her so much different from just about every person she met before college.

Warn herself about Jane? Not that there was any thing to warn about. Daria didn't care. Just the couple times Jane seemed to hit on her had been a little off putting. Other than that, well, the group Jane hung out with... But that was Jane's choice.

She keeps thinking about the past year when she realizes she couldn't tell her past self but there was some one who might appreciate the insight.

Daria gets off the couch and gets the home phone. After a few seconds to remember the number in Odenton, she calls and soon her sister picks up. "Hello?"

"Hey Quinn, it's Daria."

"Oh, did you want mom or dad?"

"You."

Quinn was in the guest room with clothes and accessories all around her. She didn't know how big the closets at Miami would be. She figured it would be small and had to find the best way to pack as much yet take as little room as possible. "Oh, uh, hey. What's up?"

"I was thinking about what I would tell myself if I could go back in time. About college and the people I'd meet."

"Oh, that sounds interesting."

Daria looks up from the couch as she hears the door open and sees Amalia come in with Dantanius. He carried a case and she overheard some thing about _edible body paint_ and experimenting with it. "Glad I'm not an artist or dating one."

"Huh?"

"Sorry Quinn, um, any ways, I wanted to give you some advice." Daria has so many things she wants to tell Quinn she can't think of what to tell her first.

"Daria?"

"Uh, sorry, again. There's a lot. The people, they go here to learn. I mean, you know that, but they pay to come here. There aren't any airheads here. Even the ones who you'd suspect of being as empty headed as possible but still breathe are here to learn. If you need help I'm sure there will be some one who will, for free." Daria needed help in her Media History class.

Most people taking it had been planning to get in to journalism for years and this was all refresher stuff for them. For Daria it new and a little hard to keep track of. Thankfully several other students had been more than willing to help her.

"I'll attract them like a moth to the front porch light, remember Daria?"

"Yes you will. And you'll know which moths to burn and which ones to let live. Right?"

"Yes. No more Sandi's. I want more Stacy's in my life. Oh, she finished second last week!" Quinn gives off a squeal that has Daria pulling the phone away from her ear until it stopped. "She got hit early but there were a bunch of cautions so was able to get back on the lead lap and she is a great driver. If I could drive like that I could make it to Miami in half the time!"

"With a few speeding tickets along the way."

"Maybe. They couldn't catch her."

Daria smiles a little. This Quinn was so different from the Quinn two years earlier. Daria started wondering what Quinn would send in an email to her past self. "You've been going to parties so I'm sure you know about beer and stuff."

"Ew! Stuff is bad for your skin."

"What? I know you've thrown a few keggars."

"I'm a good host but I don't drink."

"Smoke?"

"No! Bad for your teeth and complexion!" Daria laughs a little. "What?"

"Nothing." She never thought she'd be the _wild_ one when it came to some thing. "Give it a try, if you want. It isn't that bad but make sure you stay in control. A beer or two is ok but a six pack is way too much."

"I've seen enough from Lindy to know I don't want to drink or any thing."

Daria thinks about the Halloween party. "Just be careful for assholes. They can drug a soda as easily as they drug a beer. And while there are assholes," She thinks of Jason, who had gone home for the summer, immediately. "There will be a lot more nice guys out there. I know you like to date around but maybe this time date one guy? If it doesn't work out you can break up and try some one else. It is college not the rest of your life."

"That sounds more like Jane than you."

"As much as I liked Luke, it ended. If things end with Conner then they do. Just because mom and dad met in college doesn't mean we have to meet our future husbands in college. Now is our last chance to have fun. We're adult enough we can do adult things but young enough to enjoy it."

"I like that. My fake ID has helped me... Well, I needed to get kegs for parties, but I never really got to experience being an adult before. The couple of weeks I was in Lawndale alone was weird. I bought all my own food and stuff. I even had a party but it was small. Just Lindy and Stacy."

"You're sounding more like me all the time."

"Thanks." Daria is taken back by Quinn's response. "I just hope I can handle college and being on my own as well as you are. I'm still scared about that. What if my roommate is horrible? What if I can't handle my classes? If I can't get a job or I get one but it interferes with school... I never had to worry about this before." Quinn starts to bite her lower lip in worry. "If I can do half as well as you are I might make it."

"You'll do fine Quinn, I'm sure. You're walking in to college with more experience than most."

"Parties don't count. Well, except I saw how people, friends, act. I mean, I don't know what I mean."

"You saw how mature people act at a party? There are plenty of idiots at parties but if you go with the right people they can be fun." Daria hears the door open and sees Mary walk in alone. "I have to go. You'll do fine Quinn."

"Thanks for calling Daria. I needed a break from packing."

"Packing? Don't you still have a month until you leave?"

"I know! How am I going to fit every thing I need in a tiny dorm room? I should have started earlier!" Quinn hangs up abruptly on Daria.

Daria gets off the couch and goes up the stairs to Mary's room to see if she was working or could head out.

**Jane is on the phone with **Andrea after Andrea called her. "Does Trent realize Lindy moved herself in?"

"I don't think so. She's been here four days in a row and her stuff is here. I overheard her say some thing about her lease at her apartment ending. I don't know if she asked any one."

"Well, I kind of moved you in with out really asking any one. Not that there is ever any one to ask."

"That's what I figured except I don't think Trent knows she moved in. He still comes and goes like always even though she's here."

Jane chuckles. "That's my brother. Oblivious to every thing."

"Except you. He is actually marking a calender waiting for Thanksgiving."

"Oh. Uh, is he on the right month?"

"He wasn't until Lindy noticed and changed it."

Jane smiles. "I guess I don't mind having her in the house. It might be nice for that big house to have people inside of it."

"If you approve I guess I won't say any thing else about it." Andrea and Jane continue talking about the fall semester coming sooner than they had hoped.

**Jake is with **Senator Sacks talking about a warning. "Maybe we should bring this up? If the warning is accurate we should get congress to give the authorities the uh, authority, to act."

"They can wait until after summer break." Senator Sacks was already going through a bottle of Vodka. "The best part about this job is we get paid to take long vacations." He laughs drunkenly. "I have a golf meeting with some lobbyists tomorrow. Figure out who they lobby for and how much money they bribed me with." He laughs more sloshing some vodka from his glass. "I'm sorry, donated to me."

As Jake worked more with Senator Sacks, the more disenchanted he had become. He hoped he could get some thing done for the people of Maryland and the Nation. Instead he had hit roadblocks with months of vacation, more than any other President or Congress had ever taken in an eight month period, lobbyists, and Senator Sacks love of top quality Vodka.

"Well, when congress reconvenes, uh, we can look in to it then." Jake leaves the office early hoping to beat traffic and get home.

**Daria is curled up with **Conner on the couch in the house she and her friends were renting. His arm is around her shoulders and the other rests on her thigh. They had started kissing when the hand on her thigh moved a little too high for her comfort. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" He squeezes her thigh before moving his hand a little lower.

"Thanks." She starts to kiss him again and he keeps his hand where she wanted it to stay.

She had been nervous at first, as she was with Luke, about doing any thing more than kissing. So far Conner had been much like Luke. He would push a little but respected her wishes. It made her trust him and like him more.

After a few more minutes of heavy kissing, Daria pulls away. "If, um, your hand wants to go farther, uh, follow me up to my room." She knows her face was turning red and her chest was burning a little.

He looks her in the eyes and can see the redness spreading. "It does, but only if you want it too."

Daria gets off the couch and starts walking towards the stairs. She kept looking forward so he couldn't see how red her face was getting as the blood rushed to her head. She takes deep breaths as she walks up the stairs.

Conner needs no second invitation and hurries off the couch after her.

**Mary is with Dr. Masters **at a family dine in restaurant when she sees a regular from work. He was an ass who groped the girls. He had harassed her a couple times. No one liked him but he would drop a lot of cash if he drank too much.

She looks the woman with him over. It wasn't any of the girls from work. "One second, this could be fun."

She walks over to the regular's table. "Oh my god! I thought some thing was wrong with you!"

"What?" The regular recognizes her. "Uh, ma'am, I think you have me mistaken with some one else. If you could go back to your table and leave me and my wife alone,"

She cuts him off. "Wife? You told me you were single!" She turns to the wife. "Every night when he comes to the strip club he's always sobbing over his dead wife and how he just wants a little comfort."

Mary turns and walks back to her table as she hears the wife yell some thing about _working late _and how this was their first time out because they were always so broke he couldn't take her out any more.

**Daria is in her room **when she hears yelling. She gets off her bed and looks out in the hallway.

Jane is pounding on Amalia's door. "Open up, you bitch!"

The door is thrown open. "What?!"

"Where's my 3.5 inch brush and midnight black paint?"

"I don't know. I have my own brushes and paints why would I use yours?"

"Who else would have my stuff?! Do you think Daria or Mary would take it?!" Jane barges in to Amalia's room.

Daria leaves her room and stands outside of Amalia's.

Inside Jane starts going through Amalia's brushes. "Those are all my brushes."

"Where is it then?! You're the only other artist in this house! Even if your crap wasn't good enough to get in to BFAC."

"Go to hell Jane! I have my own damn brushes and paints and don't need yours!" Amalia grabs a canister of black paint, opens the top, and throws it at Jane spattering her and the floor in black paint. "There, now we both need more paint!"

"Shut up!" Both girls flinch and turn to see Daria. "What are you two doing? This is the fifth time one or the other has accused each other of taking supplies."

"She had my,"

"She took my,"

Daria cuts both off. "And then you both agreed to ask before borrowing some thing from the other one. Amalia, do you have her brush or paint?"

"No! I have my own brush."

Jane continues to go through Amalia's brushes. "All of my handles are red." Daria can see from where she is standing that all of the brushes had black handles.

"So she doesn't have it. Are you sure you didn't lose it? Your room isn't exactly organized."

"I know where every thing is." Jane storms out of Amalia's room, still covered with paint, and goes to hers slamming the door behind her.

Daria sees the look on Amalia's face. "So uh, do you work tonight?"

"No." Amalia looks at the floor where the paint had spilled. "I better get it cleaned up before it stains." Daria stands in Amalia's way. "Will you move?"

"Not until you tell me what is going on between you two. I thought you two got along but ever since you both moved in here you've been at each others throats."

"I don't know what her problem is."

"It isn't just Jane. Amalia, we're here for at least a year. You two need to get along."

Amalia frowns. "Maybe. It is, was, hell, you know how she is better than any one else here. She's cool and I do like her it is just being in close proximity all the time... It might get better when school starts."

Daria looks towards Jane's door. "I'll go talk to her too." Daria walks away and Amalia hurries down the stairs to get some cleaner so she can get the paint off the floor.

Daria knocks on Jane's door before opening it. She sees Jane digging through a pile of rags and empty plastic cups. "Still looking?"

"Yes! If Amalia doesn't have it and it isn't where I _always _put my brushes then where the hell is it? Or my paint?"

"Did you put the paint in the refrigerator?"

"No. I don't do that since my paint is used before it can go bad. Did you take my brush?" Daria doesn't respond. "Of course you didn't. You use words not paint. Mary? Where is she?"

"At work, I think. Or with Dr. Masters."

"You call him Dr. Masters too? What's his first name?"

"Uh," Daria thinks for a second. "James, or John, I can't remember."

Jane smiles. "He must have really left an impression on you."

Daria sighs. "I wasn't, I didn't care, then. If I had met him now, well, before Conner, I might have cared."

Jane goes to her door and leaves going down the hallway to Mary's room.

Daria follows after her. "I don't think Mary would like you going through her stuff." Jane opens one drawer and then another on a dresser. "What is so important about that brush? Couldn't you just borrow Amalia's?"

"It is my brush and the handle..." Jane stops as she leaves the dresser and looks under Mary's bed.

"The handle what? Jane you're acting like the brush was made of gold."

Jane stands up from the floor. "Kind of is. The handles are hollow and screw off the brush heads. I hide my money in them and that one has my twenties."

"You don't use a bank?"

"I'm a Lane, we never use banks." Jane starts to shake as the full consequences start to hit her. "I had a few hundred in that brush. I need that brush."

"We don't have rent for a couple more weeks."

"I have rent covered with my other brushes but I still need that brush."

Daria tries to remember if she saw Mary in Jane's room or with any paint brushes. "I, uh, don't have any thing going tonight. If you want I can go down and see Mary."

Jane smiles with a mischievous look in her eye. "Daria Morgendorffer going to a strip club? This I've got to see."

Daria has her own smile appear on her face. "You, in a strip club? Should I be expecting to leave you there?"

Jane laughs lightly. "I should grab my one inch brush. It has my ones."

**Trent is with the band on **the road. "Uh, we should have taken that last exit, I think." Jesse was looking at a map as he turns it different directions. "Or this one. Definitely this one."

Trent pulls down the exit ramp. "Atlanta is huge." He looks up at the various buildings. "Look for a race track."

Nick speaks from the backseat. "I think it is south of the actual city."

Jesse looks back at the map. "Oh, uh, maybe we should have staid on for a couple more exits."

At the track, Stacy is getting her suit on. "We're cutting it close." Her boyfriend helps her with one of the pant sleeve zippers.

"Sorry I can't be fast like you." He kisses her on the thigh as he finishes with the zipper.

"Very funny but I can't be late for driver introduction. They have Quinn's friends playing my intro live!" She grabs her helmet off of a table and hurries out of the janitors closet.

Mystic Spiral pulls in to the parking lot near the entrance. A security guard comes over. "This is for drivers, owners, and other track employees."

Trent grabs a green placard and hands it to the guard. "We're supposed to show this."

The guard looks it over. "Ok then. What are you here for?"

Jesse yells from the passenger seat. "We're a band!"

Trent smiles a little. "Yes, we're a band, for Stacy Rowe."

The guard hands the placard back to Trent. "Use the VIP entrance."

Quinn is at home watching on television. "Yes! They made it!"

Lindy is sitting next to her on the couch. "I tried to get them out the door earlier. Lucky I got them on the road when I did."

On the screen is Mystic Spiral playing Stacy's song as she comes out on the track in the back of a truck and waving to the crowd.

**Daria and Jane enter the **strip club, pay cover, and go to the bar to find Mary. "What are you two doing here? Jane I get but Daria? Looking to switch sides?"

"No, gods no." Daria looks at a dancer on stage. She was wearing a thong, high heels, and a smile. "No. Sorry, but women are crazy."

"Then what are you doing here?"

Jane leans forward. "Did you borrow one of my brushes?"

"Oh, yeah, before I came in. We are making signs for male review night and," She sees the look on Jane's face. "And I should have asked before borrowing it."

"Where is it? I need it."

"In the back, I can go get it for you."

"We'll keep an eye on the bar." Jane leans over and sees an ice cooler filled with beers. "Yoink."

"Hey! I could lose my job for that."

"Get me my brush and I'll pay for it."

"You're underage."

"My ID doesn't say that." Jane smiles as she shows Mary her fake ID. "See?"

"Well, what the boss don't know won't get me fired." Mary leaves the bar and goes to the back of the club to find the paint brush.

Daria simply watches Jane as she drinks. "When did you get that?"

"Steve got one for me and the others who aren't old enough."

"Oh, your group."

Jane sets the beer down. "Yes, my group. I can get you one too. Won't even have to do the things I do to get one." Jane smiles as Daria looks away. "I still don't get why some things set you off and other things don't."

"Shut up. It is weird thinking about you doing all that stuff."

"Because it is more than one person or because it is me?"

Daria glares at Jane. "I don't know. That is all your thing. I just don't want to think about any of that."

"Even if it involves Conner?"

"He, we, shut up and look at the bursts on the dancer." Daria wishes she had a beer or three as she sits and waits for Mary to come back.

When Mary comes out from the back she has the brush in hand. "Here, sorry. Forgive?"

Jane twists the handle and pops it off revealing several twenties. "It's all here so yes." She puts the twenties back in and puts the handle back on.

Mary gets back behind the bar. "You have enough for the Champagne Room if you see any thing you like." Jane shrugs her shoulders. "None of them good enough for you?"

"I don't like girls. I like personalities. Sure," She looks at the newest dancer on stage. "Looks don't hurt but if she's an air head or a bitch no amount of boobs are going to make up for that." She turns her head and checks out the bouncer. "Looks definitely don't hurt."

Mary leans over the bar and whispers. "He's as flaming as flaming comes, sorry."

Jane laughs. "Too bad."

Daria, feeling very uncomfortable, wants to leave. "Jane, can we go?"

"Come on Daria, stay and hang out with me! You and Jane never came here before."

Daria looks down at her boots feeling awkward with the situation. "As soon as some asshole talks to me I'm leaving. If Jane leaves with me then she does."

"Great!" Mary and the three talk and hang out. Daria does her best to ignore her surroundings.

**When Mary, Jane, and Daria leave **the club they run in to Jason and some of his asshole friends. "Look, more sluts."

Jane and Daria are about to react when Mary holds a hand up. "Big Bob!"

The bouncer, easily six ten and three fifty, comes out cracking his knuckles. "Yes?"

"These men are not customers and are harassing us."

"Shut up! You're the slut who works here."

Big Bob moves past the three ladies. "Say that again, punk." His voice is deep and booming even as he speaks at a normal decibel level.

"Or what? You'll call the cops?" Jason jabs Big Bob on the chest with a finger. "We'll be gone before they get here."

Big Bob gives a bright white smile. "You just assaulted me." Lightning quick, very surprising for a man his size, he has Jason on the ground and knocked out.

Jason's two friends take steps back as Big Bob looks at both of them and licks his lips. "Any one else wish to assault me?"

Both shake their head and run to the car and try getting in. The doors are locked and Jason had the keys.

Big Bob pulls a cell phone out and calls the police. "Yes, a drunken asshole assaulted three ladies in our parking lot, and then me. No, he's not going any where for awhile. You have a good night Brie, yes, I know. Of course I love talking with you but I think I should end the call as this call is being recorded and I don't want you getting in trouble." He hangs up the phone.

Mary notices the looks Daria and Jane are giving Big Bob. "We call the police, a lot, and he knows the call center ladies."

Big Bob watches Jason's friends as they start walking down the sidewalk as fast as they can leaving Jason for the police.

The four wait in the parking lot for the police. When a car shows up an older officer steps out of the car. "Bob, another one?" He nods. The officer looks down at Jason. "I'll get his statement once he wakes up."

Mary breaks out in tears. "He attacked us! I'm a bartender, I don't even dance! These are my friends! We go to the same school and, oh please, please, officer, help us!"

Jane has to hide her smile and chuckle as Mary goes over the top. Daria simply shakes her head as Mary continues the tears.

"Don't worry ma'am, I'll take care of it." With help from Big Bob, the officer is able to pick Jason up and carry him to the back of the police car.

**Quinn is standing **next to her car as she prepares to leave for Miami. Her mom was with LJ at the hospital after he spiked a fever. Her father was in D.C. For work. Lindy was with the band doing, some thing. Stacy said she'd make it but so far hadn't shown up.

She checks the time and sees she only has a few minutes if she wanted to leave and make it to Miami before dark.

After those minutes pass Quinn gets in her car and starts to back out of the driveway when a car slides up, tires squealing as the driver slams on the breaks.

Quinn has to hit the breaks hard so she doesn't hit them. She looks in the mirror and recognizes the car. "Stacy!" She shifts in to park and turns the engine off as she gets out of the car. "You made it!"

"Sorry! I was running late and got pulled over."

"What? Did you get a ticket?"

Stacy gets out of her car and almost bounces over to Quinn. "He let me go with a warning and an autograph!" Stacy and Quinn hug. "I'm so sorry I was late!"

"You're fine Stacy. You made it." Quinn feels tears in her eyes. "You made it."

"Where's every one else?"

Quinn looks down at her fashionable shoes. "Busy."

Stacy leans against Quinn's car. "I made it. Even if I was a little late."

The two start talking and Quinn doesn't realize how much time has passed until her father pulls in from work.

Quinn checks the time. "Oh no! I should have left a couple hours ago!"

Stacy sees the time. "I have to go to! I need to meet with some people for an interview!" Stacy hurries to her car and takes off.

Jake gets out of the car and walks over to Quinn. "Hey Quinn! I thought you would have been gone by now."

"I was supposed to but I got caught up talking with Stacy."

"Oh, well, good luck! I'm glad I got to see one of you crazy kids off to school! Miami is a good school."

"I know dad, I know." Quinn hugs him for a few seconds and then pulls away. "I have to go. It is going to be super late when I get there."

"Drive safe! I hear traffic in Miami can be hellish."

"I will." Quinn hugs him again as she feels tears in her eyes.

She was really leaving home. She was really going to move to Miami. She'd come home for the summer, she wasn't going to be like Daria, but she'd be on her own. "I'll miss you dad. And mom."

"We'll miss you too Quinn." Jake smiles as he watches Quinn get in her car and pull out of the driveway. "Until LJ is old enough to know what's going on, Helen and I are going to have a lot of catching up to do." He walks in to the house with the smile still on his face.

**Daria and the rest of **the college students in Boston are anxious and dreading the end of summer. Daria would go from two classes to five, one a day. A lot lighter than her freshman year but with extra responsibilities at work would be a lot.

To help prepare for the new year, several parties were being planned. Daria was actually looking forward to it. If you had told her the same time last year she'd be anticipating a party she would have laughed. Now, well, she wasn't going to go wild but she would enjoy a cup or two of beer and maybe a little dancing with Conner.

She sits at her computer reading over the book she was writing. "It is done, I think. I need some one who knows police procedure to read it over."

What she didn't know she tried looking up on the internet. She knew a certain detective who would have no problem looking it over. Except that meant calling... "This is his book. I wouldn't be working on it if it wasn't for him."

She picks up her cellphone and stares at the numbers. Could she call him? "I don't hate him just what happened." She dials his home phone number.

After two rings she hears a click. "Hello?"

"Uh, hey Luke, this is Daria."

"Are you ok? Do you need help?"

"I'm fine but I do need help. Our book, I mean, the book we were working on, is done. I think. I want you to go over it. I made it more a police investigation instead of the dry documentary style we originally had. If there are any mistakes you'll notice them."

"One would hope so."

There is silence. Neither one knows what to say to the other.

Daria hears shouts from the floor below. "Daria!"

"I have to go. Um, we can set up a meeting some time. I can burn the book to a disk for you."

"Ok, sure. It'll be nice to see you and how you're doing."

"Uh, yeah, you too." Daria hangs up on him as she leaves her room and goes to the top of the stairs. "What?"

"Hi!" Daria recognizes Lejla. "You're good with computers, right?"

"Kind of." Daria is a little unnerved as Lejla hops up the stairs towards her. "Why?"

"We're throwing a huge party and want to advertise it online! Jane says you can do some website thing and advertise for us?"

"Maybe." Daria looks down the stairs at Jane. "What am I getting paid?"

"We got you a fake ID and twenty bucks." Jane holds up a little plastic card that Daria can't see from the stairs. "And an open invitation to the party. What do you say?"

Daria thinks for a few seconds before responding. "Ok, sure."

**Quinn is settled in **her dorm room. She had been in Miami for a few days and had already met several people she liked. She was trying her best to be her but she kept wanting to be liked no matter what. She kept telling her self the same thing over and over when she saw herself slipping in to Old Quinn. "I want them to like me for me and not a fake me."

Her roommate was a black girl from New York City. Ashtin Anderson was glad to be some where that snow didn't exist. Quinn was nervous they wouldn't get along. Lindsey told her about the problems with Daria. So far though they had gotten along.

Campus was a little confusing at first for her but the other students were glad to help her. And not just because of her bouncy... Hair.

Quinn found a bar nearby that carried racing so she could watch Stacy's next race. Her fake ID got her in but she didn't order any alcohol. She knew there would be parties going on but Stacy's race was more important to her.

Stacy was stuck in third as the laps ran down. The two leading cars had gotten a large gap between them and her.

She is coming out of turn two when a caution flag waves. "Caution? For what?" Her father and others were getting annoyed with cautions for what seemed like invisible debris on the track.

Stacy goes down pit road and gets two right side tires and a splash of gas. She would be good for the rest of the race.

As the green flag waves Stacy stays high and sticks with the second place car as they reach the first turn.

Quinn leans over the bar as the camera zooms in on Stacy and the second place car pass the first place car. "Come on Stacy." Quinn sees the two cars pull farther away.

Stacy hears her father tell her it was five to go. She looks in her rear view mirror and sees plenty of space between her and third. The King Racing engine she was using gave her lots of power. It was up to her to control it.

Quinn sees the white flag wave. "Last lap, she can do it, she can," She sees Stacy drop low as she exited turn three. "She can do it!" Stacy cuts up in front of the now second place car stopping him from trying to pass her back. "Go!"

Stacy sees the finish line and crosses it. "Yes! Yes! I did it!"

"Yes you did honey, yes you did." Mr. Rowe hurries down from the spotter's booth to congratulate his daughter and make sure he got on camera.

**Daria is at the party **with Conner. "This is insane." The whole area had been taken over. A large house in the middle of the woods had been rented out by Steve and Daniel. Cars were parked every where.

Conner puts an arm around Daria's shoulders. "This is cool. They sure know how to put on a party." He nudges her a little. "I'm sure the bedrooms are already taken. How about we go off in to the woods for some privacy?"

Daria smirks. "I'm not tired. If you want to go to bed go ahead."

Conner laughs. "Fine, what ever you want little lady." He leans down and kisses her softly on the lips. "Want another beer?"

Daria swirls the little bit still left in her third cup. "No, I'm good." She looks around her. She didn't know the majority of the people there and for once it didn't bother her. They may be drinking more than they should but she knew that the majority of them were good people. Smart people. Some were like her. High School outcasts who grew into a new world of college. Others were always smart and charming and filled with confidence. Like Conner.

They were all college students who were blowing off steam before school started back up. She had three beers and was cutting herself off there but understood why others would drink more. She had her wall up as before but it was a few feet shorter. And as she drove to the party she didn't have her glasses on. She knew she used them to keep others away in highschool and before.

Now, now she didn't need them. Her mom was right. She was finally where she belonged. _She must never know she was right._


	3. Chapter 3

**Daria: College Pains The Sophomore Year**

**Episode 3: First Class**

**Daria wakes up **in the back of her car. She is curled up with Conner. "Ow." Her back and neck hurt after sleeping in an uncomfortable position the whole night. She has a headache, a clear sign of her hangover.

Both had drank a little too much and decided it would be safer to sleep in her SUV than to try and drive back to Raft.

Daria has to use the facilities and shakes Conner. He moans some thing she can't understand and decides to just climb over him to reach the door and get out.

She goes up to the house and finds the door open. It hung on one hinge and beats against the wall as the wind catches it.

She goes up the stairs and finds the bathroom is unoccupied.

As she sits down she hears a noise from behind the shower curtain of the bathtub. "Who's there?" She stands up and makes sure nothing is showing as she reaches for the shower curtain.

She pulls it back and find not one, not two, but three people curled up in the bathtub. None of them open their eyes. "I guess they're out." She closes the shower curtain and goes back to the toilet. "No worse than using a stall in a public bathroom. As long as they stay passed out."

**Quinn is on the phone **with Stacy. "I can't believe you're in the top three! How many races do you have left?"

"Seven in NARCA and four in ASCRA Stock Series. I have so many interviews to do and without you to do my hair I just hope they can do what ever with it for any magazines."

"I'm sure your hair will be fine."

"How's Miami?"

Quinn looks out the window of her dorm room. She was on the top floor and had a great view of the campus. "Great. My roommate is going here for cosmetology so we have plenty to talk about."

"Cool! I don't know how I would handle having some random person thrown at me like that."

"You have cars thrown at you."

"But I don't have to live with them." The two continue to talk as things go differently for another former member of the Fashion Club.

**Sandi is working the counter at Cashman's**. Her parents forced her to get a job as she had failed to get in to any college.

She holds up a pair of shoes a customer had just put on the counter. "I'm sorry ma'am, I simply can't sell you that top with these shoes. They are so fashion backwards."

The woman has her credit card in her hand. "I want these, now. Scan them and sell them to me!"

An older employee hears the yell and comes over. "What's the matter Ma'am?"

The woman points at Sandi. "She won't sell me the shirt and shoes!" She waves her credit card in the other employees face. "I'm a regular and I won't put with this!"

The other employee moves around the counter to the cash register and leans in so she can whisper to Sandi. "What are you doing?"

"Those shoes and top do not mesh. It would be a crime against fashion to let her buy them together."

"What if she's not planning on wearing them together? She probably has other clothes at home."

"I, did not think of that."

The other employee turns to the customer. "Sorry Ma'am, she was trying to buy time for the register. It crashed and she's new and didn't know if she broke it or not."

"Well, I never, just ring it up then!" The other employee scans the items, the woman swipes the card, and the order is completed.

As soon as the customer leaves the other employee turns on Sandi. "This is the second time we've had this little conversation. What are you thinking? You aren't some fashion guru you're a drone at Cashman's. Sell the shit we sell and keep your stupid little opinions to yourself. If this happens again, well, three strikes and you're out."

"Like, fine." Once the woman walks away Sandi sneers. "What ever.

**Daria gets out of the first class of the week and **sees Conner waiting for her. "Hey beautiful," She looks around. "Ha ha Daria. You know I mean you." He walks over to her and kisses her lightly on the lips. "Ready for work?"

"No." With fall semester starting the newspaper would ramp up production. Over the summer, with so few students on campus, it had been easy. Now... "Maybe the new guys can pick up the extra work."

**Quinn finishes **her first week of classes. She has homework, lots of it, but it seemed easy. "Didn't I do this last year?" She chews on one end of a pen as she uses a calculator to help her with her math.

Her roommate is in the room next to her working on her English. "I think so." She taps a book. "I paid a lot of money for this book and I could I have just swiped one from highschool.";l.

**The first week of classes are over **for Raft and Daria is already a little burnt out. Work as an assistant editor was piling up as well as the fall semester kicking off.

Conner is just coming back from a political rally on campus about recent tax cuts for the top one percent. "Lots of signs Daria." He had some from a few counter protesters from off campus.

She looks at some of the photos. "How is it one side can't spell their own name while the other side can spell superciliousness?"

"The difference between college education and hillbilly education?" He starts to rub her shoulders when she shrugs him off. "What?"

"Not while we're at work."

He leans down and kisses her on the cheek. "Ok boss."

"I'm not your boss." She shuffles through a couple other photos. "I'll show these to Matt and he'll decide which ones are good enough for the newspaper."

"What about the website?"

Daria groans. Over the summer they had set up an online version of the newspaper. Unlimited space for editorials, opinion pieces, and pictures. It meant a lot more work for her since she had been deemed the go to person for it. "What ever. You're giving me a headache."

He backs off. "I wouldn't want that. I'm taking you out tonight."

Daria smirks. "What makes you think it would matter if I had a headache or not? It isn't like we're doing, that."

"Sex?" He sees her blush lightly. "No, but there are other fun things we can do." He wiggles his eyebrows at her.

"Not while we're at work."

"Fine, what ever the boss wants." He laughs as he walks away and she glares after him before smiling.

**Jane is at the art gallery **she did work for with three black and white photos. She wanted to do them all but didn't have the time for it. "I can't believe how much fun I get out of doing these." She looks at the painting of some one's long dead great grandmother protesting for voting rights. "The paychecks help but seeing the look on someone's face when they see my work is better."She sticks that photo in a schoolbook she brought with her.

She was waiting for the client to show up.

The gallery owner comes down from his office and sees her. "Ah, Ms. Lane, another sale?"

"And three more offers." She holds up the other old photos. "I want to do them all but I don't have the time."

He crosses the room and gets closer. "Do you have any friends from that art school of yours you would trust with this? Most of these photos are one of a kind and irreplaceable."

Jane thinks of her group of friends. They were good friends and fun to hang out with but she wouldn't trust them with this. She wanted to trust them but not with this. They were too flighty to be trusted with some of these photos.

Amalia... They were friendly but they fought a little too much and Amalia had another job.

The only one she could think of who might be able to handle this was Paige. But if she gave the work away would she be shooting herself in the foot? She could end up losing business.

"No, no one I would trust with this."

Some one clears their throat and the two turn and see Jane's client.

**Daria meets up with Conner outside of a small restaurant.** She hugs him and kisses him on the lips. "Well, I like that greeting."

She looks him in the eyes and smiles as much as she normally does. "I felt bad for treating you like I have the past few days. Work and school together are stressing me out."

He leans down and hugs her tighter. He brushes his lips against her ear. "How about I give you a massage later?"

"I'm sure you'll stop with just a massage."

He laughs and pinches her on the behind. "Maybe."

Daria feels a slight burn in her chest. Conner was much more of a flirt than Luke. He showed more affection in public as well. She liked it even if it made her feel a little uncomfortable. It was nice, so she thought, that a guy would show her such affection. After years of being closed off from the general public, even after dating Tom, the first couple of years in Raft had expanded her world ten fold.

**Trent and Lindy are **having another fight in the basement. She had drank a little too much and yelled at him in the middle of a gig when a couple girls threw their bras at the stage. "You can't come to shows if you act like that."

"How would you know how to act? With out me you wouldn't have even had that gig last night! I've done more for this band than the band itself ever did."

"Yeah, you did. Thanks." Lindy is made even madder at how calm Trent was. "Why I wanna keep you around." He smiles a little.

She wants to wipe the smile off of his face. She clenches her hands in to fists. "How can you smile at me like that? Do you think this is funny?"

"What?"

"Those two, two, skanks last night!"

"So? It isn't like I slept with them. Why do you always get mad?"

"Because you're my meal ticket out of the hell hole that is my life. What good does my degree do me now? Ever since what's his face became president the entire economy tanked."

"Actually, it kinda started before. It wasn't major and probably made worse but it didn't start with the new guy."

Lindy gives him and incredulous look. "How would you know? You don't know what the day is half the time."

"When Janey was here, Daria had the television on and it said some thing about it."

"Of course, _Daria._"

"Hey, that song was from Janey."

"You know what?" Lindy storms towards the stairs. "I'm going to stay with a friend for a couple days."

"Don't forget your meal ticket."

She stops halfway up the stairs. "I, I didn't mean that. Not like that." Her shoulders slump as she turns around and walks back down the stairs. "I like being the manager. It is fun and different. I like you and the others too." She walks over to him and places a hand on his chest. "I like you the most though." She kisses him softly on the lips. "I just, I get it from my mom."

"Drinking or jealousy?"

"Both. I need to stop. Both. You've never given me any reason to not trust you. Even with Daria and the way you two looked at each other. She just had some little girl crush on you and I doubt she'd do the things I do for you." She puts her arms around his neck and kisses him harder.

**Daria is in Mary's room, sitting on the bed, **trying not to stammer and sound like an idiot. "Just spit it out Daria."

"I, I need, you know, pills. _The_ pills."

It takes Mary a second to realize what Daria wanted. "Oh! So you and Conner,"

Daria cuts her off. "No! Not, not yet. I mean, maybe, soon. I think. It has only been a couple of months but I just, he, I keep comparing him to Luke but he's not Luke. I don't know how to describe it. I feel comfortable enough around him..." Daria looks down at her boots as her face flushes with color.

Mary claps her hands together excitedly. "Aw, you love him!"

Daria shoots up from the bed. "I didn't say that!"

"Ok, so maybe not love, but more than just like?" Daria nods. "Just go to the nurses office at school. It isn't free but cheaper than a lot of other places."

"Really? It, I mean, then they'll, you know, know." Daria hates that her face was red from blushing just thinking about it.

"So? The people who work are also probably having sex. Just like every one else." Mary snickers as Daria starts fidgeting with her hands. "You are so adorable."

"I, it, shut up."

"No, really. I mean, gah, I did it back in my junior year and Amalia, god knows when her first time was. But you, you waited this long and it is with a pretty nice guy."

"I thought Luke was a nice guy too. He was a nice guy. He is a nice guy." _Which made it hurt even more._

"Is Conner hung up about an ex?"

Daria finally stops looking at her boots. "Not that I know of."

"Then don't worry about it. It will hurt the first couple of times but after that it feels better every time. Well, if he knows what he's doing."

Daria smirks. "Does Dr. Masters' know what he is doing?"

Mary smiles brightly. "Maybe. We haven't had sex yet but what' we've done has been enjoyable. You missed out on that one Daria. Good thing too or I wouldn't have been able to snag him for myself." She laughs a little. "If you can ignore his love/hate relationship he has with his father."

"Aren't girls supposed to be the ones with daddy issues?" Both girls laugh.

**Quinn is stressing out the Monday after the first weekend of **College. She had gone to a party with some people as Stacy had the week off from racing. She didn't really consider them friends but that was more her trying to make the right friends rather than a lot of them.

Since she partied and didn't work on homework she was stuck working on it now. "Why is there so much of this? I'm not at home any more!"Her hand hurt from writers cramp.

Ashtin takes her headphones off after Quinn's last yell. "You ok there Quinn?"

"No. I, I never had this much homework before. I never studied half this stuff in high school. How am I supposed to know when the first use of marketing took place?"

"Uh, the books you bought?"

"Gods, for way more than any book should be worth. Who cares that Roman gladiators did endorsement deals? I'm looking at models and make up not Roman dudes fighting tigers."

Ashtin laughs as she grabs one of her school books. "Kind of like how I am going for hair and nails and yet I'm stuck learning about some wig maker from the fourteenth century."

"Exactly!" Quinn is distracted from her school work as she and Ashtin continue to complain about it.

**Daria sits in class **bored. It was your average Tuesday morning. Listening to the teacher talk about government. It was a filler class she had to take to pad her courses and the school's bank.

When her cellphone rings she ignores it. It soon rings again. And again. She sees the professor and other students stare at her. "Um, it might be important." She picks her cellphone out of her bag. "Hello? I'm in class."

"Daria! Thank God, you're not on any of the airplanes."

"What?" It takes her a few seconds to recognize the voice. "Luke? What's up?"

"Daria, if you're in class, tell the professor to turn the television on. Call your father and tell him to get the hell out of D.C. If you know any one in D.C., New York, or any other major city, tell them to get the hell out, now."

"Luke, what's going on?"

"Turn the television on, now!"

She flinches as she hears the click of Luke hanging up.

"So Miss," The teacher looks at her trying to remember her name. When he can't he continues unabated. "What is so important?"

"That was uh, Detective, Detective Garcia, of the Boston Police. He told me to turn the television on, now."

"Really? Why?"

"He didn't say. Just to turn the television on and call any one I know in D.C. Or New York and other major cities to get out."

The professor walks over to his desk and opens a drawer getting a remote control out. He turns the television on. "So, what exactly," He, and the rest of the class fall silent as they see the WTC North Tower smoking.

No one speaks as the reporter continues their coverage. "So far evacuations have been going well. We have seen the FDNY and NYPD show up in force."

Daria isn't sure why Luke had called her. "So some drunken pilot hit a building. I mean, yes, that sucks for every one on the plane but why did Luke call," And then she and the rest of the world with a TV watch live as a second plane hits the south tower. "That's not a drunken pilot.

Daria dials her parent's house on her cellphone. "Hello?"

"Mom, where's dad?"

"Why?"

"Turn the TV on, any channel."

"Honey, I'm a little,"

"Do it!" Every one in the class looks at her for a second before turning back to the television screen.

Helen holds LJ with the phone cradled between her neck and shoulder as she finds the remote and turns the television in the living room on. "Oh my God." She almost loses the phone. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Luke, he, he called me and told me to call dad and get him out of D.C."

"But this is New York City. Does he not know where the WTC is?"

"I know. Maybe, maybe there are other planes. Where's dad?"

"Here." Helen can't tear herself away from the television.

Daria feels herself start to calm down hearing her father was home. "I, I gotta go. Um, bye, love you."

"Love you too Daria." The two hang up as they continue watching the chaos in New York City.

**Every one across the country and world **watch as the reports come out. Another plane hits the Pentagon and then another is reported having crashed some where in Pennsylvania. They watched the Towers fall.

Classes were canceled for the rest of the day. Daria didn't know what to do at first. She, along with millions of others, had just watched thousands be murdered.

She got in her car and sat in it for a few minutes in silence. She starts the car and pulls out of Raft's parking lot. She knew what she wanted. She knew who she wanted. Needed.

She gets on the highway and starts to drive.

**Quinn is in her **dorm room fixing her eye makeup. She wasn't the only one who had cried after watching what happened.

When she is done she goes out to the parking lot and gets in her car. She needed some thing and knew where to get it.

**Stacy had been in Arkansas **getting ready for practice when the news came. Soon every driver and others were huddled around any TV they could find. Thoughts of practice or qualifying are forgotten.

**Tiffany is in the common **area of her school watching the same thing every one else was. "Like, so they're, all dead? That's so sad."

**Trent and Mystic Spiral** had been practicing when Andrea came down to get them and tell them what happened. The band is stunned as they continue to watch.

Trent tries to call Jane but she doesn't answer.

**Jane is already on **the road. She knew what she wanted to do. She was joined by many others going to the same place.

When she parks her car in New York City and gets out she sees thousands of other volunteers who flocked to the city to help. Go through rubble looking for survivors. To help with any medical care they can give. To help those who made it out get in contact with their loved ones.

She, with the others, move towards the sounds of crying and torment. She moves to give a hand to any one who needs it. She sees the pain and suffering of others in a way few others ever could.

**When Daria parks her SUV in **the driveway she stops for a minute. This house in Odenton was not hers. It was new, foreign, but her family was inside.

She gets out and goes to the door. She doesn't knock as she goes inside. "Mom? Dad?"

"Daria?" She sees her dad come from the kitchen. "What are you doing here?"

"I, I had to see you, and mom." Daria goes over and hugs him.

"It's ok Kiddo. I wasn't in D.C. Today."

"You could have been." Daria pulls away. She had to make sure she didn't cry. If she did it messed with her contacts.

Helen comes down the stairs and sees Daria. "Shh, I just put LJ down for his nap."

Daria goes to Helen and hugs her. "I'll be quiet."

Quinn is stuck in traffic as she gets close to home. She had to pass by Washington D.C. On the way there. Police, National Guard, even the heavy military was out in force. "I just want to go home!" She honks her horn with hundreds of others stuck in traffic.

**Jodie and Mack meet up** before driving down to New York City together. Like Jane and many others they felt the need to go and help any one they could.

**Lindy had been with a **friend when they saw the attacks on television. "I have family in D.C." As much as she didn't like her mother she was still family. "I, I should go and, I don't know. Is there any thing I can do?"

Her friend shakes their head. "Probably not."

"I should still go see her." Lindy sets her beer down and gets off the couch.

**It is late, the Sun just peaking** out from the western horizon, when Quinn gets home. She gets out and hurries to the door. "Mom? Dad?"

"Hey," Quinn sees Daria.

"Daria!" She goes to Daria and hugs her. "Why are you here?"

"Why are you here?"

"I, I had to see mom and dad."

Daria hugs Quinn back. "Same here."

**Trent worries more and **more about his sister as he couldn't get a hold of her. When some one finally answered the phone it was Amalia. "Hey."

"Uh, hi?"

Trent doesn't recognize the voice. "Uh, Janey? She lives here, right?"

"I haven't seen her, Mary, or Daria. Maybe they, maybe they're some where together? Death can change things for people. I doubt Daria would do any thing with her but after what happened, hell, who knows." She herself was wondering what she was doing with her life.

She was stripping to pay rent and help with school. Is that really what she wanted? What if she had died that day? Would she really want her life to end with _she took her clothes of for book and food money._ And the fling she had with Dantanius and Josh and Hank and all the other guys... She never dated any one for very long.

Looking at her life made her feel depressed and when she came home to an empty house it made her feel even more empty and alone. "You never know."

"Maybe." Trent doesn't say any thing else as he hangs up before calling Daria's cellphone.

Daria gets it out and answers. "Hello?"

"Daria? Is Jane with you?"

"No, why?"

"She isn't home. Your friend said neither one of you was home."

"Oh, I, I went to Odenton. To see my family."

"Oh. Maybe Janey is too. Traffic."

"Uh, yeah, maybe." Now Daria starts to worry. "When I leave tonight, uh, maybe I'll stop and uh, see you?"

"Ok, cool. House is empty right now. I don't know where Lindy is either."

An hour or so later Daria says good bye to her family and gets in her SUV. "Please let Jane be ok." She pulls out of the driveway after Quinn moves her car and drives north to Lawndale.

**Jane covers her mouth as she coughs.** Dust was every where but she and the many others ignored it as they pulled away rubble. Earlier there had been a few people found but the last one was hours ago. The spotlights brought over from various sports stadiums helped illuminate the darkness of the night but not the darkness of hope being lost.

A dog starts to bark and people rush to where it was at and rip away stone and concrete like it was nothing. Below is a woman curled up in a ball barely breathing. "We found one!"

The people move out of the way as several medical students hurry over. Doctors and nurses were stretched thin and even if they were just freshman in college, any medical help was welcomed.

**Daria pulls in to Casa Lane's **driveway. She didn't see Jane's car. "Where is she?" She gets out of the SUV and goes to the door knocking.

When Trent opens the door and sees her she sees his face change. "Oh, hey Daria."

"She's not back yet?"

"No." They stare at each other in the doorway for a few seconds in silence. "Maybe she's with her other friends?"

"Maybe." Daria thought to herself a few times how a beer or a joint would help. "Hopefully."

"Come in." Trent walks away from the door and Daria follows him in.

They sit in the kitchen in silence.

Daria finally breaks the silence. "Where are your parent's?"

"No idea."

"Penny? Wind? Uh," Daria can't think of the last Lane sibling's name.

"Summer, no idea.

"Lindy and Andrea?"

"Andrea went to D.C. To help. Lindy said she was going to a friends house earlier. I thought she'd be back by now."

"Oh, um, the band?"

"They went home to see family. Like you did."

This made the small hole of worry in Daria grow. "Well, um, Jane was never one for family, right?"

"Except for me."

Now the hole became a bottomless chasm. "Shit, I don't know." Daria feels herself shake a little as fear runs through her. "Where the hell is she?!" She pounds on the table.

"I don't know." When Trent stands up Daria does as well. "Could you go back to Boston and find her?"

"I don't know. She might be with her friends." _Please be with your friends._ "I should go."

"Yeah, um, good to see you're ok Daria."

"Same here Trent. Good to see some one cares about Jane besides me."

"I care about you too. Weren't two of those planes out of Boston?"

She feels her heart skip a beat when he hugs her. "I think so." Luke had all but screamed about how she wasn't on a plane. "I, I haven't been on a plane in years."

She feels him pull her closer and puts her arms around his waist. She feels a tear hit her ear. "I'm sure Jane is ok. Stuck in traffic or with her friends getting high and trying to forget about this."

Lindy comes in and doesn't see any one. "I need another beer." She had wanted to see her mother at first but after five minutes with her Lindy only wanted to get away. A few beers at a bar to smooth her nerves before she went back to Casa Lane helped but she was still seething with anger at her mother.

She walks in to the kitchen and sees Trent and Daria. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Trent looks up but doesn't let Daria go. "Janey's missing. I,"

Lindy interrupts Trent when she grabs a pottery vase Mrs. Lane had made and throws it. "I can't believe you!" Lindy turns around and storms out.

Daria feels uncomfortable with her position but doesn't let go of Trent who continues to hug her.

**2,977 people lost their lives in a shocking and brutal way. FDNY and NYPD and thousands upon thousands of volunteers swarmed the city to help. One security officer who had been there for the 93 bombings ignored orders not to evacuate and started evacuations of the second Tower saving countless lives, but not his own. He had gone back to try and save more people when the Tower fell. Thank you to him and the many others who risked their lives, and lost their lives, on that day to save others.**

**9/11 Never Forget**

**A/N Bleh, 9/11 attacks would have happened at this time and I wasn't sure how to use it. Include it? Ignore it? Go "This is an alternate world so never happened"? I decided to include it and show the response by as many of the characters as possible. Those needing family, others needing to help. Some looking at their lives after watching so many lose theirs. I was sitting in 3****rd**** period, math class, sophomore year, when the attacks happened. And my exact thought was the line about drunken pilot. It wasn't until I watched the second plane hit that I realized it was more than a drunk pilot. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Daria: College Pains The Sophomore Year**

**Episode 4: Panic**

**Daria pulls in to the driveway **early in the morning. She is worried when she doesn't see Jane's car.

When she walks in she sees Amalia asleep on the couch. "Maybe Jane called." She walks over to the landline and checks the answering machine.

_No New Messages_

Daria goes to Amalia and shakes her gently. "Huh? What time is it?"

"Late, or early. Did Jane call?"

"No." Amalia looks up and sees Daria. "She wasn't with you?"

"No. I went to Lawndale, Odenton, but she didn't. She never came here?" Amalia shakes her head. "Damn. Where the hell is she?"

"No idea. I thought you two went off some where." Amalia yawns and stretches as she gets off the couch. "Classes were canceled for tomorrow so we can sleep in."

"I didn't even think about that." Her mind had been busy with too many other things. "I'll stay down here in case she calls." Daria sits down on the couch and turns the television on. An infomercial is playing. "Some things haven't changed." She takes her boots off before laying down on the couch.

"Good night Daria." Amalia yawns again as she heads for the stairs.

"You too." Daria turns her back to the television forgetting to take her contacts out as she quickly falls asleep.

**Jane sits down inside of a **fast food restaurant. It was being used as a health station as the place had closed to business the other morning. "The Sun is coming up? It doesn't feel that late." She leans back on the bench. "Stop looking at me clown." The statue of the mascot doesn't listen.

"Hey," another worker sits down next to her. "Where are you from?"

"Maryland, but going to school in Boston." He was, much like her, covered in dust and dirt and grime. His overalls fit him better than the ones she had been given. "You?"

"Rhode Island but going to school here in New York." He stretches a little as he looks out the window. "It doesn't seem real, does it? I've been out there digging and pulling and hoping to find some one. Shouldn't we be tired?"

Jane, now that she has sat down, starts to feel the wave of sleep wash over her. "I wasn't until you said that." She yawns. "What are you going to school for?"

"Electrical work and engineering. You?"

"Art and education." She leans forward resting on her legs with her arms crossed over. "I need to sleep."

"They have beds at a store about a block over."

"What kind of store?"

"Mattress store." He smiles and she smiles back. "Probably have to write off the mattresses after us skeezeballs sleep on them." He pats his shirt and dust puffs out.

Jane stands up and leans against the window. "Which way?"

"Towards the Sun." The man stands up. "I'm in need to find a phone soon. Call my roommates and let them know where I'm at."

Jane freezes for a second. "Crap, I should do that too." They look and see a payphone near the bathrooms. "You wanna call first?"

"No, lady's first." Jane goes over and after digging in her pockets for change puts in a couple quarters and dials.

Daria hears the phone ring and even in a tired daze finds the phone on the first try. "Hello?"

"Daria?"

"Jane! Where are you? Are you ok?"

"I'm ok. I'm in New York. I, I came to help. I'm trying to help." She yawns. "Right now I could really use some sleep."

"Did you get a hotel or are you sleeping in your car?"

"Neither. There's a mattress store near here that is letting us sleep on their beds." She feels her stomach grumble. "Gah, I can't remember the last time I ate."

Daria isn't sure what to say or think. "Um, Jane, just, be safe. I'll call your brother and let him know you're ok."

"I'm sure he's fine."

Daria remembers Trent hugging her and crying. "He wasn't. Every one went home. Well, a lot of people went home. None of the Lane's did."

Jane feels like she's been kicked in the gut hearing this. "I, I'll go home before I go back to Boston."

"Ok. I'll still call him and let him know you're ok."

"Thanks Daria. See ya later." Jane hangs up before Daria can respond.

Jane leans against the phone for a minute when the man taps her on the shoulder. "Don't fall asleep just yet."

Jane smiles tiredly. "I can't sleep standing up. I've tried." She moves away from the payphone ignoring her stomach. She could eat after she slept.

Daria looks at the phone as the dial tone fills the room. "She went to New York. Wow." She dials Casa Lane ignoring the time.

After two rings Trent picks it up. "Janey? Lindy?"

"No, Daria. But Jane called, she's ok. She's in New York helping, what ever."

"Oh. Ok. Thanks Daria."

"Trent, um, she said she'd come down when she was done in New York. She had to go and help there first."

"I understand. Glad you got back safe."

"Uh, thanks. Did you sleep yet?"

"No. Waiting for Jane to call or Lindy to get back."

"She still hasn't come back?" Daria had felt bad about Lindy but she hadn't done any thing. If Lindy hadn't gone off she would have known.

"No. Probably went out and got drunk again."

Daria hears Trent sigh. "My sister said she had a drinking problem."

"She does. She breaks down and swears she'll stop but she doesn't. I quit smoking, we all did, when she told us to. So we didn't get in trouble. She won't stop drinking even though she knows it messes her up. I'd stop drinking if she stopped. Maybe get the whole band to stop."

Daria starts to feel uncomfortable. "Have you told her that?"

"Yes. Kind of. Maybe."

"So that's a no."

"Maybe."

"When she gets back, tell her. It might help."

"If she comes back. She's not an artist but I'm sure she could feel the vibes."

Daria can't help but blush a little even over the phone. "You, and I, were worried about Jane. That's all."

"Really?" Daria is silent. "Are you there?"

"Yes. I mean, yes, I'm here. I'm not sure about the other thing."

"You're, uh," Trent taps a finger on the kitchen table. "You're not sixteen any more. Not old enough to drink either. So, twenty?"

"Yes Trent, I'm twenty." Daria can't believe she is having this conversation. No, she can't believe how she was reacting. She had gotten over the crush years ago, right?

Daria had spent half her trip back to Boston worrying about Jane and the other half thinking about Trent. He had gotten his act together. Because of Lindy. He had changed his outfits, showered on a regular basis, and stopped smoking. Because of Lindy. He was motivated and was doing some thing for once. Because of Lindy.

Her sister, and Lindy, had noticed how the two looked at each other over on dinner. In the kitchen, worrying about Jane, holding each other... Daria ignored the reaction at the time. She had been too worried about Jane.

"Daria?"

"I'm here."

"We should talk."

"I think we should too." She leans against the arm of the chair with the phone pressed against her ear as she reaches for the remote to turn the television off.

**Jake is in D.C. Waiting **for Senator Sacks to come in. "Where is he? He should have been here an hour ago!" He points at some one sitting at a desk. "Did you call his cellphone?"

"Yes Sir."

"His home phone?"

"Of course, Sir."

"Monty's Bar and Grill?"

"Yes, and the State Store he likes to go to. No one has seen him since last night."

"Why now? Congress finally ends their nine month vacation and he doesn't show?" Jake feels his heart start to beat a little hard. "I need to sit." Some one else jumps out of their chair and Jake sits down. "Call Megan, or Miranda, any of his mistresses. Hopefully he's just drunk in one of their beds."

He checks the time. The Senate was about to meet in a few minutes. "I need to rush over to capitol hill. I'll figure out what they're planning and then tell Sacks when he gets here." Jake checks his tie and shirt for any coffee stains before leaving the Senator's office.

**Mary wakes up **curled around Dr. Masters. "Whoa, did not expect this." She shakes him and he starts to move.

"What?" He turns and looks at the time. "Crap, I should be getting ready for work." She shoves him a little harder than before. "What?"

"How drunk did we get?"

After leaving school she went to where Dr. Masters worked. He was already closing up for the day when she got there.

As soon as he was done they went to a bar. The bar tender didn't check her I.D. And just started serving. A lot of people had gone to seek an escape in the bottom of a glass that night.

He sits up and looks down at her. "Too drunk to remember what we did. Although," He looks her over. "We seemed to have had a good time." He smiles while she frowns. "What?"

"I have no idea if you were good or not. What if you were terrible?" She smiles before laughing.

"I'm never terrible. If you want," He moves so he is on top of her. "I can prove it right now."

"What about work?"

"I can show up late. It isn't like my dad is going to fire me." They start to kiss and enjoy each other.

**Daria wakes up on the couch and hurries to **the downstairs bathroom.

When she is done she goes to the stairs and up to her room.

After changing she goes and knocks on Mary's door. When there is no answer she opens the door. "She didn't come home either?"

She goes down to Amalia's room and knocks. "Yes?"

Daria talks through the door. "Have you seen Mary?"

"No. She never came home yesterday."

"Any idea where she is?"

"The club? Dr. Masters?"

"I'm not going to the club and I don't know his number." Daria leans against the door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure. Don't mind the fumes."

Daria opens the door and is hit with paint and thinner fumes. "How do you breathe in here?" Amalia shrugs her shoulders as she sets her brush down.

Daria sees the painting. It was different from Amalia's usual work. She sees a book with a black and white picture that Amalia was recreating in color. "What are you working on?"

"My resignation." Daria just gives her a quizzical look. "I'm thinking about quitting the club."

"Why?"

"What if I died yesterday? Or tomorrow? Do I want that as my last act? Like, here I am, an aspiring artist, yet I take my clothes of for a living."

"I thought you didn't care about that. It's just a job."

"It is, was, just a job." Amalia tilts her head as she studies the painting. "A great paying job. A job that is just like my life."

"What?"

Amalia sits down on her bed. "I have three to five minute _relationships_ with some one at work. Maybe thirty minutes if they get the VIP room. That's pretty much how long my real relationships last. Dantanius was a great guy but I got bored and broke things off with him. Michael, Jason, Devin, Matthew, gah, I don't even remember a couple of their names. I have fun for a few weeks and then break up with them." She slumps forward hanging her head low. "Does that make me a bad person?"

"No, no. You're just not ready to settle down." Daria walks over and sits down next to Amalia. "At least you're not Jane."

"If only I was." She motions to the painting. "She doesn't make as much as I do but pretty damn close and she does it with painting." Amalia sighs. "And she got in to BFAC. Some thing I couldn't do."

Daria isn't sure what to do. "You just didn't send the right stuff in. Jane got lucky and they liked what she sent in. It doesn't mean you're not as good as her."

"Hell, where is she? I didn't see her car when I woke up."

"She's in New York."

"Not the answer I was expecting. I guess they could use all the help they can get." She looks over at the clock. "Maybe I could go and help."

"Maybe." Daria bites her lip.

She had wanted to talk with Mary about her conversation with Trent but Mary was missing. For some reason she wasn't worried. Why, she wasn't sure. "Hell, I was going to talk to Mary about some thing but she's not here."

"What is it?"

"Um, do you know about Jane's brother?"

"Tall, dark, and handsome? I've seen pictures. Why?"

Daria hates that she can feel her chest start to burn. "I went to his house, Jane's house, after I left my parent's." She couldn't say her home. It wasn't. "He was worried about Jane. A lot of people went home after what happened but no one did for him. He was all alone."

"Doesn't he live with his girlfriend and Jane's ex?"

"Yes, but Andrea went to D.C. To help and Lindy just wasn't there."

"Andrea was Jane's ex, right?" Daria nods. "So?"

"He was alone. I was the only person who had come to see him. He, we hugged, he was crying and his girlfriend walked in on us."

"Oh, that sounds bad. I think Jane said you used to have a huge crush on him."

"I did." Daria shakes her head. "I thought it died but it came back."

"It sucks when your crush rejects you."

"He didn't reject me. Exactly."

Amalia's eyes get wide. "Wait, what?"

"I called him after Jane called me. We talked, a lot. I'm not, as he pointed out sixteen any more. I'm technically a woman."

"That's what the law says." Amalia laughs lightly. "Damn law. Can't your father change it?"

Daria shakes her head. "He just works for a senator."

Amalia gets up and walks over to a mini fridge. It had been in her and Mary's dorm room.

She opens it and gets two wine coolers out. "Want one?"

"It's before noon." Amalia holds it up. The blue color of the liquid almost glowed. "What the hell."

Amalia closes the mini fridge before walking back to the bed and handing one of the drinks to Daria.

After a few sips, Amalia continues their conversation. "So what did you two talk about?"

"He knew I liked him. He didn't do any thing about it since, you know, I was sixteen. Now I'm not. Now if I like some one his age it is ok."

"And if he likes you?" Daria shrugs her shoulders. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know. He lives hundred of miles away and is Jane's brother and we have a lot of history but none of it romantic. Me crushing on him, making a fool of myself, and him being him."

"Well, then what?"

Daria shakes her head as she recalls the conversation. "He knew it would never work out. He thought I was cool and if Jane liked me I had to be a good person. If I had been older he might have tried. But as I did get older he realized he wasn't right for me and tried to keep his distance."

"Oh. I've always heard how oblivious he was."

"He seems that way. I guess it was a cover."_ A mask? Like Tony or... My glasses are not a mask. _"But he's right. Just... Now that I'm older, maybe I could make it work. I can drive, I'm an adult, I can make my own choices."

"What about Conner?"

"He's great, he really is, I just don't know. Can't I take a class?"

"I don't think they teach soap opera in college."

Daria squirms as she fidgets with her half drank bottle of alcohol. "I like Conner, a lot. I even went to the nurses office and got, you know, the pill. We haven't yet but I think I might, with him. Then Trent, he, it would never work. I tell myself that but I have this fantasy in my head where we live together and I'm a scientist but he's an unemployed balding middle aged man."

"Wow. Even in your fantasies you can't be happy. Stop being such a misery chick and ask yourself what would be best for you."

"Becoming a nun."

Amalia nudges Daria with her elbow. "I don't think so. That would just be avoiding men. You like men you just don't know what to do with them."

"I do. We, Conner and I, I know what he expects next. Why I got the pill. That's how it works. You kiss, touch, more, and then, then," Daria grasps her right hand in to a fist. "Sex, you have sex. If you don't then you break up." She thinks about what happened between her and Tom. "This isn't high school."

"Ah, high school. Just like the Civil War. Lasted four years, clothes made you who you were, and lost too many to gangrene and shoddy surgery."

Daria cracks a smile for a second before it disappears.

Amalia puts an arm around Daria's shoulders while raising her drink with her other hand. "It sure as hell isn't high school. It's so much better." She squeezes Daria closer to her. "If more complicated." She takes a sip of her drink. "No idea what you should do about Trent or Conner but why not both? Conner first and if he's no good, Trent."

"It would never work with Trent. It is just a crush and what happened yesterday and more."

"If you're not going to do any thing then why all the problems? Either keep him as a fantasy and have fun with Conner or break up with Conner and see if there is more than fantasy with Trent." Amalia leans against Daria a little. "And if you reject him, send him my way. I wonder if the pictures do him justice."

"Not even close." Daria continues drinking her wine cooler.

**Jane wakes up and eats a half made sandwich **before going back to ground zero. There were still a lot of people but not as many as before.

Soldiers and police guarded the area just in case. No one was taking chances.

She sees the man from before leaning against some debris. "Hey, get some sleep?"

He smiles at her as he turns around and recognizes her. "A couple hours, you?"

"More than a few." Jane scratches at the back of her neck. "This dust is driving me crazy."

"I'm ready for a long shower."

She smiles as she looks him over. "I wouldn't mind a shower either."

He smiles back. "Well, I might need help getting the small of my back."

She gets close and touches his arm playfully. "How about after a couple hours of clearing debris we find a place with a shower?"

He smudges some dirt on her nose. "After all the shit and misery here, I think that might be a good way of cheering things up."

Jane turns around and looks at the destruction still prevalent at their feet. "The whole world could use some cheering up."

**Helen is at the office taking phone **calls. Her connection with Jake made her the first target outside of Senator Sacks family and Jake for the media. "No, I don't know where he is. I've never met the man. I don't know if he ran off with some Brazilian woman or is hiking the Appalachian trail. Call my husband I'm sure he knows." Helen hangs up again. "We really need to get a new person screening our calls. What happened to... Whoever we had before."

Down three floors sits Sandi Griffen. Having been fired from Cashman's she got hired in at the lawfirm through a connection from her mother. "Why are all these people calling? I am working on my nails." She hits a button sending the call through not even answering it to see who it was.

**Jake shows up at a **hospital in Philadelphia. A white male matching Senator Sacks description had been admitted. Due to recent events with all hospitals flooded with patients it took time for any one to check records.

Jake is led towards a back room. The person leading him lifts a blanket. "Is this him?"

Jake looks down at the body. "Wow, yes, what happened?"

"Uh," The person picks up a clipboard. "Car accident, two open bottles of vodka found, wasn't wearing his seatbelt. There was a female passenger who died of asphyxiation."

"Huh?"

The person smiles. "She appears to have been giving him oral sex while he was driving. He hit some thing, she bit _it _off and choked to death on it while he bled to death. Alcoholics have a hell of a time with lack of blood clotting."

"You, you can't tell any one about that." Jake knew it would destroy Senator Sacks reputation. "I, right? Wait, why can you tell me? Are we breaking the law?"

The man shrugs his shoulders. "If we don't know who it is we can't know who next of kin is. Now that we know who it is we can make sure to contact his, wife?" Jake nods. "I'm guessing she isn't a twenty some thing year old blonde." Jake shakes his head. "Any idea where he might have kept his wallet? None was found on the body or in the car."

"Hell, maybe he left it at the liquor store again." Jake turns and walks as quickly as he can wondering what to do.

He was a great campaign manager. He had spent years consulting for businesses. He knew good PR. There had to be some way of spinning this to make... Well, why did it matter? "Am I out of a job now?"

**Daria meets up with Conner **outside of the sophomore dorm building. "Hey, how's it going Daria?"

"Ok, I guess." She doesn't hug or kiss him like she had before. She doesn't even make eye contact. "I, um, we need to talk."

"Need to talk? That's never good." He smiles to show he was joking but when he sees the look on her face his smile disappears. "Whoa. Uh, the dorm is empty."

"Ok." Daria follows him inside.

Daria sits on his bed and looks down at her boots. "Conner, um,"

He sits down next to her and puts a hand on hers. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Well, I do, kind of." She finally looks him in the eyes. "I want a break."

"A break? Because of, uh, Russel?"

"No, not him."

"So some one else." He takes his hand away. "Why?"

"Not really some one else. It's me. I like you, I really do, a lot. But I know what you expect. I know what happens next. When two people date for awhile it always leads to, um,"

"Sex?"

"Yes."

"So if we take a break and you date some one else then you won't have to have sex, until you reach the same point with them. How many guys will you go on break with before having sex?"

"You act like you don't think about it."

"I do, trust me, I do. You are so, petite, but womanly, at the same time and I like what we do together but yes I would like to do more." He uses a hand to cup her chin and make her look him in the face again. "But if you're not ready then you're not ready. I can wait."

"Wait. You're waiting, I'm not. You expect it and I, I guess I do too, but not in the same way. It's like, _oh, the tenth date, sex is unlocked._ I dated Tom for over a year and never did more than kiss. I don't have an unlock on, that."

"Say it. If you can't even say it how will you ever,"

"Sex! Ok, there, I said it." Daria digs the nails on her right hand in to her palm. "I'm not like Amalia or Jane or even Mary. I've never, done that, had sex. I, when I do, I want it to be with the right person. I don't want to look back at it and hate it."

He hugs her. "I can't promise you any thing. Yes I want more but we have a lot of fun as it is. I can wait." He pulls away. "I love listening to you snark at the idiots in what ever movie we're watching."

Daria looks down at her boots. "And there, um, might be some one else."

His face flushes with color. He remains calm but Daria can hear the anger. "So you lied when you said it wasn't some one else."

Daria shakes her head. "It would never happen. I'm confused and scared and after what happened on Tuesday, I can't stop thinking. I think too much for my own good."

He gives her a stern look. "Who is it?"

"No one you know."

"Not your ex?"

"No, not Luke. Trent, Jane's older brother. I had a crush on him before but thought it went away. After seeing him when I went to Odenton, well, Lawndale, it is complicated."

He gets off his bed and stands before her. "So you want a break so you can be with some one back home who is older? One you say won't happen."

"No, yes, I don't know." Daria shakes her head. "Damn it, damn it, damn it. I have the opposite of Midas touch."

"Every thing you touch turns to lead?" She nods. "I haven't. I'm a little pissed you want a break so you can date Jane's older brother hundreds of miles away and then tried to lie about it, but I'm not lead."

"I didn't lie. I am worried about the next, sex. I was going to with Luke even though I knew I wasn't ready and that all went to hell. I may never be ready." _Maybe I do need to see a professional. _"I'm sorry. I should go."

Before she can get up he grabs her by the wrist. "You don't have to leave. You over think every thing. Yes sex is a big deal but it takes two. Talk with me. I'd rather us talk and wait than break up or what ever."

Daria feels the burning in her chest cool. "I do too. The Trent thing, just after the attacks, he was alone. I like him and had a crush but I don't know if it is more. It can't be." She shakes her head trying to knock some thing that made sense out of her brain. "I need to shut my mind off so I can think."

"As much as that doesn't make sense it does." He leans down and kisses her on the forehead. "For you any ways."

Daria remembers her conversation with Trent. He was tired of Lindy's jealousy. She hadn't realized how bad it looked until she looked back on the situation. She liked Trent, always had. He didn't treat her like other guys did. He talked and joked with her and she... Was usually silent not used to such treatment from a guy.

But he was Trent. Yes he seemed to have gotten his act together and was pushing himself. Most of that was Lindy. Would he go back to his old ways if he broke up with her? Could Daria motivate him to keep going? Would he expect... Of course he would. After how ever long didn't all guys expect that? Didn't girls expect that? But she... She was going to with Luke to get it done and out of the way. Hell, that's why she was going to with Tom before she backed out. How could she...

"Daria?" She snaps out of her thoughts. "Your brain going at it again?"

"Yes." She stands up from the bed. "Conner, I'm sorry."

"For trying to break up with me or for talking with the Trent guy?"

"Both. I mean, we, we didn't do any thing, just talked. I'm confused and scared and don't know what to do. I like you and I even prepared for, uh," She hates how she always gets around the topic of sex. Death? No big deal. Sex... "I got the pill, _the _pill, in case we had sex. I think about it, with you, and want to in my own way. I'm just scared and looking for any way to get out of it."

"Like breaking up with me so you can date some guy hundreds of miles away which would mean waiting many months before being in the same position?" She simply nods. "Ha, Highschool psychology class helps me out again."

"I'm sorry. I like you, a lot, and I'm not used to liking some one like this. The last time I did..."

"Didn't go well? I'm not Luke. It is annoying you keep bringing him up." He touches her on the arm gently. "I'm not him. I can't promise we'll die of old age together but I won't leave you for an ex either." He sits back down on the bed and she sits next to him. "I've never asked, too afraid of the answer, but..."

"Yes?"

"You seem to hide yourself. Like, your clothes don't really reveal any thing. If it weren't for the skirt, from a distance, might not even know you are a girl. The way you can barely talk about sex, and how you reacted the first time I uh, did more than kiss you,"

Daria remembers when Jodie asked her a question and knew Conner was going to ask it as well. "No, I was never hurt or abused when I was a kid. Just the opposite. No one noticed me for my looks. My sister was always the pretty one and I was the smart one. For some one to, hurt me, they would have had to notice me. I know it is a little messed up but I decided if no one would notice me it didn't matter what I wore. So I wore what was comfortable instead of fashionable or showed off, um, skin. I kept my looks hidden and showed off my brain, at first. I was made fun of for being a brain so I hid that too. Even after I hit puberty and had certain attributes some might consider pretty or what ever I kept hiding."

"They are very pretty as you put it." He hugs her. "And it is great you have a brain. I needed a lot of help for finals last semester and you were there."

She hugs him back and the two simply hold on to each other for a couple minutes as the storm of Daria's fear and confusion passes.

**Late that night, as Jake pulls in to home, **he is nervous. With Senator Sacks dead... He looked in to it and there were two options. The Governor of the state could place some one else in the seat or there would be a special election. It depended on the state and Jake couldn't find out which one Maryland did.

The news hadn't broken yet so it gave him a few more hours to plan. Several of the people in the Senator's office already came up with a story.

The Senator had been rushing to help after the attacks when he was in the accident. It was simple and easy to remember and put the Senator in a good light.

Now Jake and the others just had to hope the medical workers at the hospital kept their mouths shut.

**Jane wakes up after **another slumber at the mattress store. She feels arms around her waist. She turns as best as she can and sees the man she had met earlier and had cheered up with. "I wonder what his name is." They had talked, and other things, and yet she never got his name. She never gave him hers either.

She looks out the window of the store and sees people milling around. She had seen so much suffering and pain the past couple of days. Being held, the feeling of warmth and comfort, it didn't matter.

She feels him move. "Finally awake?"

He turns over and sees her. "I think so. I might still be dreaming because I seem to have found a gorgeous woman in my arms."

She smiles as his eyes meet hers. "If you were dreaming, we'd both be naked."

"True." He kisses her lightly on the lips. "Ready for another day of work?"

"I think so." Both frown. No new survivors had been found. It was quickly becoming disheartening.

"After..."

She finishes his thought. "Another shower and more cheering up? And maybe find one more private?"

He nuzzles her neck. "No one seemed to mind." They hadn't been the only ones cheering each other up. Plenty of people had found others while clearing up the destruction.

She pushes him away. "Not here. There's a window."

He looks at it. "That is a little too public, even for me."

The two get up, stretch, and leave to get some thing to eat before getting back to Ground Zero.

**Quinn is on the phone with Stacy that Saturday. **"I'm sure you'll be fine Stacy."

Stacy looks out across the track from the media booth. "I was one of three drivers picked to have the flag colors. What if I crash or finish last? It's a huge honor and I don't want to blow it!"

"You kick ass Stacy. Where's your helmet?"

"At my car. This is more than about the race. I'm like, representing, you know?"

"You'll do fine! I'll be watching."

"You better! I need my good luck charm and my pre race ritual."

"Pre race ritual?" Quinn hadn't heard any thing about this.

"My boyfriend and I, um, you know, I'm sure you know. You were always so much more popular than I was."

Quinn knows she is blushing a little. "I never, kissing only."

"Really? But you always had a date even when I couldn't get one."

"Dating is totally different. They were never my boyfriend."

Quinn had been asked by several boys to hang out. She wasn't sure she wanted to date any one. College was different. She wanted to be a different Quinn here. If she dated some one she wanted it to be like how her sister dated some one. She had tried before but it was a disaster.

The two continue to talk when Stacy has to get going. "Make sure you watch!"

"I will Stacy I swear."

After hanging up, Quinn looks out the window of her dorm room. Her roommate was hanging out with some friends. Quinn had been friendly with some people but she was being guarded. She didn't want a friend like Sandi, she wanted friends like Stacy. "Gah, now I know what it feels like to be Daria." It was easy to make _friends,_ harder to make a real friend.

Quinn dials Daria's number and after a couple of rings some one answers. "Hello?"

Quinn doesn't recognize the voice. "Um, this is Quinn, is Daria there?"

"Sure, one second."

Quinn hears the person yell and a minute later... "Quinn?"

"Hey Daria, um, I wanted to talk."

"About college?"

"Sure, kind of." Quinn bites her lower lip. "How are you and Conner?" Daria laughs a little surprising Quinn. "Why are you laughing?"

"We almost broke up because of my crush on Trent."

"Oh. Wait, did you and Trent..."

"No, nothing like that. When I went to his house, he was alone, and we were both worried about Jane. We hugged and Lindy saw us and, too much happened. It was stupid and I'm just worried about going any farther with Conner."

"Oh, you and Conner," Both girls blush much the same way. "You've only been dating since the start of summer."

"I know but things have moved a lot faster than I thought it would. We click really well and I do like him, a lot. What about you? I'm sure you must have plenty of guys asking you out."

"I do but I haven't gone out with any of them yet. They're college guys and they won't be interested in just driving around or making out."

"After all the dates you've been on I'm surprised to hear you say that."

"I just had the same talk with Stacy. We, I never did any thing. We would eat and see a movie and drive around."

"So what will you do? Lock yourself up in your room all year? You're sounding like me."

Quinn laughs to herself as she looks around her dorm room. She had locked herself in her room. While others went out with friends or others, she remained in her room. "You don't do that, any more."

"No. I started dating a great guy and even though it didn't work out it was good. It hurt like hell when he broke up with me but it was still fun when we were dating. He respected my boundaries and went at my speed."

"What if he hadn't?"

"I would have broken up with him. Almost did after he pushed me a little too far. He apologized and I knew he meant it."

"If only I could be that lucky. I spent so much time getting people to like me I didn't really care if I liked them. I just wanted them to like me."

"You recognize that."

"Like you recognized that you pushed every one away and finally started letting people in?"

"Uh, yes."

The two sisters are silent as they think about their past, present, and futures. "Daria, thanks."

"No problem Quinn. Why any one would take relationship advice from me when I almost broke up my own relationship, well, you have problems." Both girls laugh lightly.

"So you and Conner didn't break up?"

"No. He knows I'm worried about going to the next step. He's willing to wait for me to be ready. Which makes me feel weird because I know he is just sitting there waiting while I might never be ready. I almost broke up with him just so I wouldn't have to think about that."

"Guys are different. They don't lose any thing, we do."

"I'm lucky I found a guy who is willing to wait and not push me. Not all guys are like that. If you're lucky you'll find one too."

"I hope so. Can't be as lucky as you or Stacy. Of course, she didn't wait."

"Really? She always seemed so sweet and innocent, for a Fashion Fiend."

"Part of her pre race ritual. Her boyfriend seems really nice from the couple of times I met him. Must be weird working for her dad at the same time."

"Better hope he doesn't hit an iceberg while treading in dangerous waters."

"Hey, I actually got that reference. Titanic, right?"

"Yes. Because of Leonardo DiCaprio?"

"So, I still knew what you meant."

Daria looks at the time. "Quinn, I have to go. I'm supposed to meet up with Mary and Dr. Masters for a double date."

"A double date? Wow Daria you certainly have changed."

"College will do that to you. Good luck Quinn."

"You too Daria."

**A/N Another episode done! Aftermath of 9/11, some people panicking about their life choices, others panicking over other people's life choices. I was thankfully young enough to not really be too affected by it. And half the time was on pain meds(Major car accident, in wheelchair for months on end after waking from coma) so that helped keep any thing from being real or what ever.**

**But for the others, what will we see happen? Will Lindy and Trent make up? Will Trent go sober for her to help her if they do? How will Quinn continue handling college? What new job awaits Sandi Griffen? Should I show the reaction of some of our favorite teachers? I don't know yet. A lot of characters to follow and have to decide which ones get air time and which ones don't.**


End file.
